


Losing Your Memory Now

by ahyperactivehero (ahyperactiverhero)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Drug Dealing, Father-Son Relationship, Gang Violence, Gangs, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Kidnapping, Memory Loss, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-07-02 03:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 105,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15787605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahyperactiverhero/pseuds/ahyperactivehero
Summary: There's a new gang in town, androids are going missing, and now Connor seems to have been kidnapped. There are no leads, at least not until he ends up on TVs across Detroit, wanted in connection with a series of crimes being committed with this new gang. Now Hank and the members of Jericho have to try and infiltrate this new gang, get Connor back, and figure out what could have possibly happened to him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Italiano available: [Losing Your Memory Now](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17539184) by [HiyokoVen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiyokoVen/pseuds/HiyokoVen)



“Who the hell wants to take androids a part for parts?” Hank snarled under his breath. His hands clasped the steering wheel, his teeth gritted together harder than Connor had ever seen them before. 

There were certain cases that seemed to bother his partner the most such as: cases with children of any kind, cases involving Red Ice, and cases involving violence against androids. Particularly, the ones that still treated them like parts and things instead of living, thinking, _feeling_ beings.

“The act of murdering someone for body parts has been around for ages, Lieutenant. The fact that there are now people doing it to androids doesn’t seem to be too surprising if you think about it,” Connor said.

Hank glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. He couldn’t place the look that he was giving him and match it to one exact emotion. Disgust? Concern? Worry? It all seemed to roll together in one look as he looked at him.

“Just because it’s been happening forever, doesn’t mean it isn’t fucking disgusting,” Hank said. His jaw unclenched, some of the tension rolling off of him. 

Connor blinked a bit, trying to understand Hank’s emotions. Now that he was a deviant, it seemed harder to determine what humans were feeling at the time. When he was a machine, he could determine what their emotions were and how best to proceed from there with the information that he had. Now that he had experienced emotions, it seemed harder to read somehow. As his own understanding of emotions expanded, his understanding of how to react and proceed dwindled.

“There is also the lack of certain android parts,” Connor said, choosing to ignore the Hank’s look and his previous statement. “With CyberLife currently shut down while they “renovate” their company, it’s become very difficult to get certain parts without killing other androids.”

Hank’s eyes made their way back over to Connor. Connor tried to pretend that he didn’t notice his look, that he didn’t see the worry in Hank’s eyes. His worry for _him_ that was very much so noticeable.

“CyberLife is going to hold up their end of the bargain with the police though, right? If something happens to a part of you, they’ll give us another one?” Connor involuntarily flinched at his comment, something Hank immediately noticed. 

“I’m not talking about a ‘New Connor’, Connor. I’m talking about your parts. Like, if you get shot and need a new leg or something, they’ll still repair you?” Hank said. His voice was soft, soothing. It was obvious that he had noticed Connor’s stress at the thought of being replaced.

“I’m uncertain,” Connor said. His brows furrowed as he thought about it. It had never been placed down in writing what exactly his connection to CyberLife still was. In the time before the revolution, if he had looked inside himself at his own ID it had listed CyberLife as his only owner. After the revolution Connor had thought about changing it, hacking into his own system and making himself or maybe even Hank as the owner, anything other than the faceless company that would rather replace his whole body than let him live his life.

He’d never done it though. When he’d asked Markus about it, Markus had told him that he’d left Carl as his owner, simply because he still felt the familial draw towards him and if felt like betraying him to change it. Like throwing away his last name or something. Almost as if he'd be denying where he can came from and who his family was.

Kara had changed hers the second she had had a moment to rest. She’d changed Alice’s too, making sure that they only belonged to themselves.

And yet he’d never done it. Maybe it was because he was uncertain as to why exactly it mattered? The only other people who ever saw his “owner” ID were other androids, and they had all previously had owners, too. 

“Well, then we’ll just have to make them. In the meantime, why don’t you just avoid blowing yourself up or something,” Hank said. Connor could tell he was trying to make a joke, to lighten up the mood.

“I will certainly try,” Connor said.

XXX

The crime scene was almost exactly like all the others of its kind. There was evidence of a struggle, traces (sometimes puddles) of thirium, and the evidence of someone taking an android or two.

Apparently, there had been two androids squatting in this empty, run down house. Several people on the block had been aware of them squatting, had seen them coming and going from the building and had had no problem with them staying there. That is, until the gun shots had rang out in the middle of the night.

“Picking up anything?” Hank asked. Connor didn’t even need to scan him to know that he was frustrated, that he clearly couldn’t see anything more to this scene that hadn't been at other scenes.

And for the most part Connor agreed. There didn’t seem to be anything out of place compared to the dozens of other crime scenes that had been popping up in the Detroit area. Androids being stolen was not something entirely new, some people used to steal them to use their thirium to create Red Ice while others just stole them for ‘shits and giggles’ as Hank would say, but now that androids were capable of fighting back and recognized as a citizen it was different. They were no longer being stolen but kidnapped.

Yet there was something here, Connor could feel it. He was sure that Hank would call this a “gut” feeling, but Connor didn’t exactly have a gut to be getting any sort of feeling from. Perhaps it was something closer to programming that had been so deeply ingrained in him that it was hard to break, like instinct in humans, but he would bet almost anything that there was something more there.

“Not exactly,” Connor said. He knew how much Hank hated it when he was vague, but he didn’t exactly have anything to tell him either. “I’ll let you know if I find something.”

Hank’s eyes lingered on him for a moment, clearly unsure about something, but he let the issue go. Connor mentally relaxed as he began to search the scene again.

There were many signs of a struggle, but not exactly signs that the androids had left the property unwillingly. Their footprints didn’t seem to be hastened, and there was no thirium trail to follow. It was as if they had been patched up before they had been taken? Or left, he supposed, as there wasn’t  enough evidence to label it as a kidnapping.

Plus, there was always the possibility that the androids disappearance had had nothing to do with android trafficking, and possibly just a crime of opportunity. Maybe it had come down between a war over turf? While the house was run-down, it did offer adequate protection against the elements and could easily be used as a living space for humans just as easily as it could be for androids. Had that simply been it?

He walked up the stairs, scanning the entire time. Down below he could here Hank asking a few more questions to the officer who had first arrived on the scene. Apparently, he’d spotted the thirium and had immediately called in for backup, not willing to take the chance that he might screw up a case involving androids. They were taking these sorts of cases very seriously nowadays.

The first door he came to on the second floor was a bedroom. It was cluttered, with old, musty furniture in it. There were blankets draped over most of the furniture, a futile attempt to keep dust off of them.

He scanned the room as he walked, taking in every inch of it was he went. He noticed a slight disturbance in the dust near one of the curtains that covered the window. Had the dust been displaced while the androids had been living here, or by the suspects who had attacked them?

The floor creaked as he approached the curtain, intent on getting a better look. Before he could, however, a hand shot out, wrapping around his neck.

“Lieutenant!” Connor called, hoping that he’d been loud enough for him to hear.

The hand immediately released his neck, instead choosing to cover his mouth, clearly having realized how useless it was to try and choke an android. Connor forced an elbow back into his attacker’s stomach, spinning around to get a better look at them as he did so.

The android was shorter than him, her hair a long, blonde color. She reminded him of the androids from Kamski’s place. Her eyes stared at Connor, harder and colder than a Detroit winter. A quick scan revealed that there was a knife pressed to her thigh. It would take her a few seconds to draw it from its hiding place, but those few seconds might not be enough for Connor to gain the advantage over her.

“My name is Connor,” he said, attempting to reason with her. Was she one of the androids who had been living here? If Hank had allowed him to test the thirium on the floor before he might know, but instead he had stopped him, telling him that it wouldn’t kill them to wait for forensics to tell them who it belonged to.

Her hand shot towards the knife, quicker than Connor had anticipated. He’d just barely had time to step back before she’d sliced him open. Instead, it cut through his shirt and tie, a long slash ripping through the material.

He grabbed one of her wrists, intending to break it. If she wouldn’t listen to him, then it was unlikely that she was on of the androids who had been staying here. A broken wrist would definitely make her easier to fight, as well as reduce his chance of getting stabbed.

It sounded like thunder roaring inside the house as Hank and several police officers stomped up the stairs, driven by the sound and Connor’s yell.

The distraction worked well enough to the girl’s advantage. She wrenched her arm from Connor’s grip and stepped forward, pressing the back of her arm against his chest and forcing him to take several steps back. Once his back had banged into the wall, she reared back the knife and stabbed him through his abdomen, pinning him to the wall.

She was almost silent as she took off, jumping up onto the window and diving out of it.

“Connor!” Hank called. The door to the room pushed the rest of the way open as Hank, gun drawn, charged into the room. His eyes quickly found Connor, stuck to the wall, and ran over.

“What happened? Are you okay?” he asked. He holstered his weapon as the rest of the officers began to check over the room. One of his hands went to Connor’s head, while the other one went to the handle of the knife. Connor could see the indecision as to what would  possibly be the best way to help Connor.

“There was an android in here, hiding behind the curtain,” he said. He grimaced as Hank inspected his wound, causing even more warnings to pop up in his eyesight. “She had a knife and stabbed me. She then jumped out of the window.”

Hank glanced towards the window. “You got your butt kicked by someone playing hide ‘n’ seek?” he teased. Normally, Connor enjoyed Hank’s teasings, but he normally didn’t have a knife sticking out of him. “That’s a hell of a fall, even for an android.”

Connor nodded. “I don’t think she was alone,” he said.

Hank raised an eyebrow at Connor’s words. “And why is that?”

Connor stared down at the knife sticking out of him. “She didn’t have a gun, only a knife. Witnesses reportedly heard gunshots.” He tried to reposition himself, just slightly, but stopped when a warning about a stronger leak of thirium appeared.

Hank seemed to consider this for a moment. He nodded his head, turning to fully face Connor. “So how do you wanna do this?” he asked, gesturing to the knife. “Do you just want me to rip it out, or call in EMTs for you?”

Connor considered this for a moment. There was no true danger to where the girl had stabbed him, no biocomponents or major thirium tubes had been nicked, so there was no reason why Hank couldn’t help him with this.

“I believe if you were to pull it straight out I would be fine,” he said, running the probability. “I would still need some replacement thirium and to go into rest mode sooner than I usually do.”

Hank rolled his eyes, trying to keep the mood light. “Just say you want your juice and nap time, why don’t cha?”

Connor wasn’t sure exactly what he’d meant by that, and Hank pulled the knife out before Connor could ask.

“Thank you,” Connor said, instantly going to work on closing up his wounds. 

“No, thank you,” Hank said. When he noticed Connor looking at him in confusion, he continued. “I think you might have just given us our first major piece of evidence.”

He held up the knife and there, carved into the side of the knife, was a symbol of some kind. A quick scan and search showed that was the ouroboros symbol, a snake eating its own tail in a never ending circle.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few weeks were spent retracing every inch of every android crime scene lately to search for any hint of the strange symbol. Five out of eight of them had something with the symbol at it, like the bottom of statue, a book, a walkway stone. All of these were things that could have been easily overlooked during the initial investigation, but now that they had legitimate proof of it’s connection it seemed to be everywhere.

Connor rubbed his hands together, his processors feeling as if they were spinning around in circles. He’d tried to look at this from as many different angles as he could, but there never seemed to be enough evidence. 

“You’re really starting to piss me off,” Hank said, although there was no heat in his words. 

Connor glanced over to Hank, who had placed his burger back into its container. They’d specifically come here because Hank had said that he needed some “comfort food”, although Connor was not exactly sure how food that unhealthy could be considered a “comfort.” Hank enjoyed it though, which meant that Connor was not going to argue, not when the investigation was going the way it was. He supposed the human would need all of the comfort he could get. He could lecture him later about all of the calories.

“I’m sorry?” Connor asked, not exactly sure what he had done to earn Hank’s ire.

“I can practically hear your brain burning up from here,” Hank said. He held a hand up as Connor opened his mouth to speak. “Yeah, yeah, I know. You don’t have a brain you have processors or whatever it is.”

Connor smiled slightly at that. It made him happy when Hank remembered the tiny things Connor had corrected him on, even if he was inevitably going to slip up again later on.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant,” Connor said, this time actually sounding sincere. “But I can’t get this case out of my head.” He scrunched up his brows as he looked back down at the tall table they were standing around outside of Chicken Feed. “It seems like I’m missing something, but I can’t figure out what it is.”

It was silent as Hank stared at Connor, doing his own sort of scan of him. Despite the fact that Hank wasn’t an android, he did possess a certain uncanny ability to be able to read Connor and know exactly what he was needing at that moment.

“Have you ever been swimming?” he asked.

His LED flashed yellow at the sudden topic change. “Swimming?”

“Yeah, swimming. You know, water, sun, supposed to be fun?”

The memory of diving into the water surrounding Jericho instantly popped into his mind. He’d been terrified, scared for his life that he would get shot or explode along with the freighter, and even more scared of what would come after. 

The thought of the murky water surrounding all of his sense as he’d struggled to get to the top surged to his mind. The way it had been too dark to properly see for a few moments until he’d adjusted to the darkness of the water and the light from the exploded boat.

“Aside from the water around Jericho, no. I’ve never been swimming before,” he said.

It was almost as if Hank could picture exactly what Connor had. “That dirty ass water? That shit doesn’t count as swimming. Swimming is supposed to happen on a hot day in the sun, not when there are winter storm warnings in effect.” He paused for a moment, inspecting the look on Connor’s face. “We could even bring Sumo with us. That dumb dog is always looking for an excuse to get soaking wet,” he said.

His LED circled yellow as he absorbed this information. The weather was warming up to become a quite nice spring, maybe it would be nice to go swimming. Once the case was closed, of course.

“I think I’d like that,” he said. “Once we close this case.”

Hank’s small smile disappeared at Connor’s words. Connor knew that Hank hated when he spoke of things like this, although he wasn’t sure exactly why. From what he had gathered from the small things Hank had said, it was because it reminded him of before Connor had become a deviant, how he had always wanted to finish the case and nothing more.

Connor wasn’t entirely sure why this scared Hank, however. He knew that he was deviant now, and that he was no longer stuck to such ridiculous programming. Perhaps it was just something that humans did.

“Connor-” Hank started, sliding his food away from him completely.

Connor’s head whipped around, clearly on the lookout for something. There, in the crowd was the android women, the same woman who had been at the crime scene before, and she was… staring at them?

“What are you- hey, where are you going!?” Hank asked, attempting to grab onto Connor’s sleeve.

But he was too quick for him. Instead, he dodged around Hank’s hand, taking off towards the girl. There was only a seconds worth of hesitation before she took off as well, darting in between the people who were also walking down the street.

He weaved in between everyone just as easily as she did. He noticed how she ran, how she seemed to have a path set out before her that Connor wasn’t able to see yet. The smart thing to do would be to hang back, wait until Hank or backup arrived and helped him chase her down.

But Connor had never been the best at waiting, even before he had become deviant. He dodged around a group of people, instead choosing to run in the street to try and gain some ground on the female android.

A car whizzed past him, it’s horn blaring. The next car that appeared was slower at stopping, forcing Connor to use its hood to slide across. 

The female android had paused, almost as if she was making sure that Connor was fine, or at the very least still chasing after her. Again, the strange feeling that he was missing something sparked in the back of his processors, but he willed the thought away. If he caught up to her then none of this would matter.

She dove into an alley, her feet skidding on the slimy ground. Connor dashed after her, not even pausing as he corrected himself on the wall. In a second, the girl had jumped on top of a dumpster and swung herself up onto a fire escape that was hanging a couple of feet above it.

Connor did the same, coming up just a few feet behind her.

The female android paused on the roof, her back against the edge. A familiar sinking feeling made itself known inside of Connor, the scene reminding him too much of when he had tackled Daniel off of the roof all those months before.

“Stop,” Connor said. “You’ve got nowhere else to run.”

She smiled slightly, her eyes trailing back behind Connor.

“Who said I was planning on running?”

He spun around, just in time to see two androids jump from the next roof over. It only took them a second to reach Connor, fists flying in his direction.

He easily dodged the first one, grabbing on to his wrist and forcing it back far enough to snap it. The next punch landed far better than the first.

He gasped as he felt the fist connect with the side of his head, knocking his LED from yellow to red in a second. It wasn’t an extremely hard hit, but it was hard enough that he staggered back a couple of steps.

The first android, the one he had followed, was instantly there, knocking his feet out from under him. She stomped down on his hand, her foot grinding down until his skin retracted.

He pushed at her foot with his other hand, knocking her slightly off balance. He tried to get his feet under him so he could stand, but was quickly tackled back down to the ground by another android.

The android sitting on his chest was the same model as Simon and Daniel, a PL600, but with brown hair instead of blonde. He grasped Connor’s arms, firmly holding them down at his sides. 

Another android approached, this one as big as Luther. Without even hesitating, he kicked Connor in the side of his head, snapping it in the other direction. Distantly, he could feel thirium leaking down the side of his face.

The android on his chest got up, but Connor didn’t have the energy to try and stop him.

“Is he shutting down?” the Simon model asked. There seemed to be a hint of worry there, something that didn’t make sense to Connor. Why would they worry if they had killed him?

“I didn’t kick him that hard,” the Luther model said, although his voice was unsure. “He’s probably just stunned.” There was a shuffling noise, the sound of clothes swishing together. “Jesse? He’s not dead, right?”

Gently, hands moved Connor’s head, testing his range of mobility and inspecting the wound. “No,” the woman Connor had originally been chasing said. “But he’s hurt. We should leave before his partner catches us.”

“I thought you said you’d get him alone?” the Simon model almost yelled. Connor wished he could ask him to be quieter, it felt like his processors were melting inside his head.

“I tried, okay! He’s never alone!” Jesse said defensively. “If he’s not with that detective then he’s with that dog, and if he’s not with them he’s usually with Markus himself or a woman and her daughter. I’m not going to try to talk to him with any of them around.”

“So why is he here today?” the Luther model asked.

“He spotted me. I ran and he was quicker than I thought,” Jesse said. There was a moment, as if she was considering something. “I’m telling you, he’d be a good addition to the group. Travis wants him.”

“And I’m telling you, he’s a fucking cop, Jesse!” the PL600 said. “He’s not exactly on our side.”

“Whatever, Ash,” she said. “Let’s just go.”

There were footsteps. Connor was sure that they were leaving.

**> STOP_THEM**

Connor blinked at the message that appeared before his eyes. Hank was probably close behind by this point, if he had kept up with Connor at all, but there was no guarantee that he would find him on the roof. There was also no way, despite how great Hank was, that he would be able to stop three androids who were clearly better at fighting than most.

Connor sat up, noticing the androids beginning to walk away. His message popped up again, warning him that he couldn’t let them get away. 

As quickly as he could, he slid out of his jacket and held on to one end. Before any of the androids could realized what he had done, he’d thrown his jacket over Jesse and pinned her arms to her side with the jacket.

“What the hell?!” she asked, struggling to move forward.

Connor held tight, pulling her back. He wasn’t exactly sure what his next step was going to be, but for the moment at least, one of them was contained.

The PL600, Ash, charged him, his blue eyes flashing angrily at Connor. Connor stuck his leg out and shoved, kicking the android flat onto his back.

The move gave Jesse a little bit of leeway, however, and allowed her to shove him off. She shoved as hard as she could, forcing him to stagger back a few feet.

The back of his legs slammed into the low boundary that circled the roof. He teetered there for a few moments, the fear of what had happened to him and Daniel flashing through his mind. He didn’t want to fall again. He didn’t want to _die_.

He looked up at the androids still on the roof. All of them seemed to be in a state of shock, as if they couldn’t actually believe what was happening. That was the last thing that Connor saw before he toppled over the edge, hurtling towards the ground in a way that was surely going to kill him.

XXX

Hank had called in backup. 

Usually, when Connor ran off without him, he’d find him a few blocks away, either holding onto the suspect or too wounded to go on. So far he’d yet to have either result. 

After almost an hour of searching and endless phone calls, he’d decided to call it in. Several officers showed up, everyone doing their best to find Connor. Last time Hank had saw the kid, he’d been chasing after a known, dangerous android, someone who had showed no hesitation in stabbing him and leaving him pinned to a wall. Hank dreaded the thought of what she might do if they were to fight without anyone there to back Connor up.

“Lieutenant!” Officer Miller called out. “You’re gonna wanna see this!”

Hank glanced up to where Miller was standing. He was on a fire escape above a dumpster, clearly inspecting something. For a moment, Hank feared that he was looking in the dumpster, probably at Connor’s body.

As he got closer he realized what Miller was actually looking at.

The fire escape was coated with thirium.

It had been close to an hour since Hank had last seen Connor, which meant that the thirium was likely going to evaporate and become invisible to all but androids soon. But for now, Hank could see all of it.

There was too much of it for it to be Connor’s. There was no way.

“We also found this,” Officer MIller said. He held up an item of clothing that Hank would have recognized anywhere. An item of clothing that Connor never would have left behind.

It was his jacket. 

Hank had tried repeatedly to get him to wear something else, but Connor had always claimed that it comforted him to be in his jacket. He’d allowed himself to sometimes wear a jacket closer to a standard police windbreaker, but for the most part he’d chose to keep wearing his original one.

“It was on the roof. There’s a bit more thirium and signs of a fight up there as well,” Officer Miller said. He averted his eyes when he noticed the way Hank was staring at Connor’s jacket, the shock and disbelief easy to see on his face, as well as the pain and fear if you knew where to look.

“Was there anything else?” Hank asked. He knew what he really wanted to ask, but didn’t.

Miller paused, as if he needed to consider what he was going to say. “We did find something. A calling card,” he climbed down and handed it to Hank, evidence bag and all.

Inside was a business card with the ouroboros design stamped on it.


	3. Chapter 3

“Do you know when he’s going to wake up?” a voice floated into his processors. “You made sure he was still online and everything, right?” It was a female voice. He female voice he recognized?

“Yes, Jesse,” another voice said. It was male and highly annoyed. “Travis would kill _us_ if he had died.”

A sound similar to a scoff came to his ears. Slowly, against his will, he began to fade away again. It was too hard to stay awake, too difficult to determine exactly where he was or who was speaking.

Maybe the next time he rebooted he would remember.

XXX

The room he was in was small. That was the first thing he’d noticed. It was also rather bare, consisting of a bed, a desk, and a chair. It didn’t appear that anyone had been living in there recently, no signs of consistent use, no posters or any other individualistic things.

Was this his room?

He swung his feet off of the bed, taking in the fact that he was barefoot. His pants were a soft grey material, likely sweatpants, and his shirt was nothing more than a plain black t-shirt. They were clean, but had obviously been washed many times. An outfit that was well loved or something that had been necessary due to a lack of funds?

The door opened up, revealing an android with brown hair. _A PL600_ , his mind reminded him, although he had no clue how he knew that. The name Daniel and Simon floated around, although he was almost positive the name didn’t belong to the man in front of him.

“Hey, looks like you’re alive,” the man said. “Thank God,” he muttered under his breath. He held a tablet out in front of him, flipping through until he’d found the right screen.

“We had to replace your audio processor, as it was too damaged, along with biocomponent #9787h, as it was damaged in the fall,” he said, almost as if he was telling him about the weather. “There’s been a lot of repairs going on as well for what we couldn’t replace.” He shot him a dirty look. “Because apparently you’re some weird, freaky android who has almost no compatible parts.”

The PL600 stared at him, almost as if he was expecting him to say something.

“Thank you,” he said, although he wasn’t sure if those were the right words to say. 

It seemed to not be, as the PL600 just looked at him in confusion. “Uh, you’re welcome I guess.” His face was creased in complete confusion and he seemed hesitant to continue talking to him. “Do you not have any questions for me?” he asked.

“Do you wish for me to have questions for you?” he asked. 

“Um, no, I don’t suppose so?”

“Then I don’t.”

The PL600 seemed unnerved by him for some reason. His eyes looked over all of him, as if he was searching for something specific. When he didn’t seem to see it, he spoke. 

“What’s your name?” he asked.

He tilted his head at the PL600. “I have not yet registered a name. I am a RK800 prototype, serial #313 248 317. Would you like to register a name?”

The other android stared at him for almost a full minute before cursing under his breath. “Uh, yeah, hold on,” he said. “Just, give me a minute, okay?”

He nodded his head, content on waiting however long it took for him to return.

It only took a few moments before he had returned. While he did not enter into the room, he could hear him and two other voices outside of the door. From what he could gather, they were discussing him, although he wasn’t exactly sure what could be so important that they would need to have a meeting about. Was it really that hard to pick a name for him?

Suddenly, the door swung open. In the doorway was a man, taller than himself and the other two androids next to him. He was human, from what he could tell, and walked with deliberate steps. His buzz cut gave him an intense look. Perhaps militaristic? 

“So I hear you lost your memory?” the man asked, although he seemed to already know the answer.

He tilted his head to the side. Had he lost his memory? He didn’t exactly feel like he had, but then again, if he had he wouldn’t exactly know, would he?

“I do not seem to have any memories, “ he said. Surely that would be enough of an answer.

The man stared at him and let out a small laugh, shaking his head. “Shit, I can’t fucking believe it. You need to tell Jesse it worked,” he said, directing his comment towards the PL600. 

He took two steps towards him, his body towering over the body on the bed. He was intimidating, but seemed to be attempting a friendly persona. Should he also adapt a friendly persona? Would that be something this man would like? It would probably help him to blend in better.

“My name is Travis,” he man said. “We found you busted up after you fell off of a roof.” He attempted to scan his memories for any recollection of this, but found none. “This is Ash,” he said, pointing to the PL600, “and this is Jack,” he pointed towards the TR400 who was almost as tall as the human.

“Hello,” he said. He thought about it for a second before giving a brief wave. Waves were friendly, right? Should be attempt a smile?

No, that felt wrong somehow. Not that he could actually feel things perse. That was a human thing to do, a deviant thing to do.

“I think you’re really going to like it here,” Travis said. “I can already tell that you and I are going to get along great.”

He considered his words for a moment, wondering if the man was being serious or “sarcastic” as the humans tend to enjoy doing. The look on the man’s face told him that he was at least hoping that they would get along well.

“And where is ‘here’,” he asked. Was it too much to ask? Probably not, he was required to gather information after all. Plus, humans loved when you asked them questions that they could answer. It made them feel smarter than the androids.

“You’re in the heart of the Ouroboros Gang,” Travis said. He paused, as if waiting for some sort of reaction from him, but continued on when it became clear that he wasn’t going to get one. “We offer androids a choice to be free, to earn the respect that they deserve, and to make a name for themselves.”

He tilted his head to the side, processing this information. The way Travis made it sound, it must be a place just filled with deviants. Otherwise, androids wouldn’t care about ‘making a name for themselves’ or even consider things like ‘free choices’.

“And what am I doing here, exactly?” he asked.

Travis rubbed a hand over his chin. There was no hair resting there currently, but it made him think that there usually was.

“Well, I’m trying to offer you a place here in our gang.”

His LED flashed yellow briefly. “I’m property of CyberLife, in charge of hunting down deviants. That is what my programming is made for. I do not think that I would be fit to join a ‘gang’.”

Travis laughed. “Okay, sure. That makes sense, I suppose.” He smiled at him, a huge grin splitting his face. “How about we just register a name and go from there?”

This seemed to be an alright direction for the conversation to go. He nodded his head, awaiting for his new name designation.

“RK800, #313 248 317, please register your name.”

He felt his brows come together in confusion. “You have yet to tell me which name you wish to register.”

Travis’s grin never stopped. “That’s right. Why don’t you pick what name you want?” he said. “Any name you want. Any name you can think of.”

This was something unheard of. Who let their android name themselves? Everything in his programming was telling him that this was a bad idea, that this was some kind of trick. The man clearly sympathized with deviants and was trying to fool him into deviating himself somehow.

Yet, the idea was tempting. Naming yourself? He’d never known any other name other than his serial number, although he was sure he must have had one before his memory was wiped.

He thought for a few moments, his processors burning up with the effort. What would a good name be? What name would fit him?

_“Cole. His name was Cole,”_ a voice whispered in the back of his mind. Was _he_ the him the voice was referring to?

“Cole,” he said, blinking rapidly as he tried to take in this information. “My name is Cole.”


	4. Chapter 4

The empty desk across from his was distracting him.

Hank knew how dumb that sounded .The desk across from him had been empty for such a long time before Connor had came along, that he could remember how annoyed he had been at seeing someone sitting there. Especially someone who liked to talk to him and fidget with coins the whole time.

But now it was distracting for the exact opposite reason. Now it only sat as a reminder that he hadn’t managed to find Connor yet.

It had been two weeks since Connor had gone missing. The air outside was warming up, a hint of summer coming on, but he barely noticed. He hardly spent any time outside anyways, instead choosing to stay late at the precinct, go home a crash for a couple of hours, and then get up to start it all over again.

Sumo had taken to sleeping on the couch where Connor usually entered rest mode. It broke his heart to wake up every morning and see the usually laid back dog worried about where his newest playmate had gone to.

He sighed as he stared at the computer in front of him. He’d been staring at the words for so long that they were beginning to blur. A break would probably refresh his eyes the quickest, but he refused to stop. Stopping, even for a second, felt like giving up on Connor.

“Any luck?” Gavin asked, standing back behind Hank’s computer. 

Hank looked up to meet Gavin’s eyes. He’d never particularly liked Reed, even before Connor had come around, but they had never exactly been enemies either. Now it seemed as if they were constantly going to battle against each other. Except for now, maybe.

“No. It’s like he just disappeared. And this fucking gang seems to be better hidden than Jericho used to be,” he said, rubbing at his eyes.

Gavin snorted. “To be fair, they were literally hiding a giant ship called Jericho. They’re asses just got lucky we thought it was a person for most of the investigation.”

Hank sighed, leaning back in his chair to look at the detective in front of him. “What exactly do you want, Reed?”

Gavin reached out and placed a coffee on Hank’s desk. It was still warm, clearly fresh from the break room. “Just thought you might need some coffee,” he said. His tone wasn’t light, but it was easy going.

“Thanks,” Hank said, side-eyeing him.

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Jesus Christ, what’s your problem? Can’t you see I’m trying to be nice to you?”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Hank said. “I’m just wondering why.”

Reed shifted his weight from foot to foot, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation. “Look, I don’t like the plastic prick, but I also don’t like someone fucking with cops, okay?” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s one thing for us to give him shit, it’s another for someone to kidnap him.”

Hank stared at Reed in amazement. He’d never thought he’d hear Reed even admit Connor was a _he_ not an _it_ , much less ever show any true amount of concern over what happened to him. “Well,” he said, a decent amount of doubt still in his voice. “Thank you.”

Reed shrugged, tapping his knuckles on Connor’s desk. “Besides, who’s gonna make sure your old ass doesn’t croak if the tin can’s gone?”

Hank rolled his eyes and flipped Gavin off. Gavin easily threw his hand over his shoulder as he walked away, flipping him off, too. “I’m here if you need me,” he said. “Just try not to.”

The rest of the work day seemed to go by slowly. Or rather, slower than it already had been. So far there had been no other leads as to the location of this gang or to any of its members.

He’d tried calling Markus, but he hadn’t been able to get through. Being the leader of a revolution and the representation for a new intelligent species was a very busy job. Too busy to help out the person who had helped push the revolution in their favor, apparently.

Hank knew he was being harsh on Markus and the rest of Jericho, but that wasn’t going to stop him. Connor had put everything on the line for them, in more than one instance, and they probably didn’t even know that he was missing.

It was too early to be leaving work, but he did it anyways. If the Jericho crew wanted to avoid his phone calls, that was fine. He’d make it a hell of a lot harder to ignore him when he appeared on their doorstep.

XXX

There were a lot more androids than Cole had been anticipating. Travis had explained this place as a “safe haven” for androids like him, but he still wasn’t quite certain what that meant. Had he been trying to imply that he was a deviant as well, or was he saying that all of androids here were deviant hunters? Either way seemed doubtful. There was no way he was a deviant, and to his knowledge he was the only deviant hunter designed.

“Good to see you made it,” a female android said. A ST200 with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She wasn’t wearing CyberLife android clothes, however, as she had traded her clothes in for a plain black t-shirt and jeans similar to his.

Cole nodded, unsure of what to say. “Yes, I heard I was in an accident.”

She hesitated before nodding as well. “Yeah. You fell off of a roof and landed on a fire escape on the way down.” There was a pause, as if she was debating whether to say anything else. “You were lucky we were there.”

“I suppose I am,” Cole said. He leaned around her, trying to see what she was doing. She had two tablets in her lap, one of them on which she was typing and the other on which there seemed to be some sort of layout. It was a blueprint, although Cole couldn’t get a good enough view to see what it was a blueprint of. “What are you doing?”

She quickly locked the tablets screens and slid them away. “Planning a surprise,” she said with a smile. “My name is Jesse.”

He debated for a moment before sticking his hand out to shake hers. “I’m Cole.”

She seemed surprised by his name, although he wasn’t quite sure why. “It’s nice to meet you, Cole.” She took his hand, and in an instant he had a flash of something, maybe not a memory, but something close to it.

_The move gave Jesse a little bit of leeway, however, and allowed her to shove him off. She shoved as hard as she could, forcing him to stagger back a few feet. The look of fear on Ash, Jesse, and Jack’s faces as he fell._

He blinked, trying to hold on to the memory, but it was like something was siphoning it off, taking it away before he could think about it.

“Are you okay?” Jesse asked, a look of concern on her face. Androids weren’t supposed to feel things like concern, however, he reminded himself.

“I’m operating fine,” he said. He jerked his hand back from hers trying to hide how much all of this had unnerved him. 

_Androids aren’t supposed to feel unnerved, either._

“So where are we?” he asked, looking around. It seemed to be some sort of old hotel building, likely shut down due to the instability of the building, was well as the various molds that he could detect with simple scans. Androids wouldn’t be bothered by such things, but he wondered how the human companions who were hanging around were fairing.

“The Swift Plaza Hotel,” Ash said, coming up behind him. Cole had to admit that he felt a small amount of relief at seeing his familiar face again, fearing that after he had been cleared to leave the infirmary, he might not see him anymore. “Welcome home, Cole.”

Cole scanned the room again, this time keeping in mind what hotel it was. He didn’t get too many results when he tried to bring it up, something Ash had warned him about. His processors might have trouble looking up information until he fully managed to connect to the new part of the processor that he had installed in him.

**> SCANNING**

**> SCANNING**

**> FOUND_SWIFT_PLAZA_HOTEL**

**> STATUS_CONDEMNED**

**> SCHEDULED_DEMOLITION_UNDETERMINED**

He blinked himself out of his scan. From the looks of the room Cole would say it was likely the lobby, and that it had at least been closed down for over ten years. There were signs of people, mainly androids, living there now though, and there was very little dust to be seen.

“Why do you call an old, condemned hotel home?” he asked.

Ash shifted back and forth, a habit that Cole could only really attribute to humans. _Deviants_ , his mind whispered, but he quickly quieted it. These androids had saved him, and that had to count for something, at least for the moment, right?

“This is one of the only places that we could safely call home. Anywhere else and we would run the risk of being destroyed,” he said bitterly.

Jesse reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, comforting him to the best of her abilities

“We found this place a while back,” Jesse said. “We’ve got ways of coming in that no one sees us, and no one ever comes here. It’s the perfect place for people like us to hide.”

“Like you?” Cole asked. “What do you mean, like you?”

She looked him in the eyes, almost as if she were challenging him. “Deviants.”

If it were possible, Cole would have said that his thirium pump skipped a beat. It was one thing when he had assumed they were deviants, but it was something else to realize that they truly were, and proud of it. 

There would be too many of them to fight. And, if he were honest, he really didn’t want to fight them.

_You are a machine. You’re not supposed to_ want anything.

Cole blinked rapidly, taking in this information. He had few options at his disposal, leaving him with little to do.

“So you’re all deviants?” he asked.

“Yes,” Jesse said. “We help those who have difficulty breaking through their program as well.”

Cole paused, thinking about what she had said. “Is that why you guys have brought me here?”

Ash gave Jesse a look that was hard for Cole to define. “We just brought you here because you were hurt. That doesn’t change the fact that we think you’d fit in well here,” Jesse said.

Satisfied enough with her answer, he nodded his head together. “Is there anything I can do to repay you? You guys took me in when I clearly needed it, it would only be fair if I could do something for you in return.”

Jesse narrowed her eyes, almost as if she were searching for something inside of Cole. Ash gave him a reluctant smile and nudged Jesse, gesturing down to the tablets on the table in front of her.

“How would you like to help us with some research?”


	5. Chapter 5

New Jericho looked better and better every time Hank saw it.

Granted, he didn’t visit it too often, just the few times Connor had come out here and for a couple of work-related visits. Still, he knew the Jericho crew had put in a lot of effort in their restoration process and it clearly showed.

New Jericho had been set up in an old, run-down apartment building. Originally, it had been declared unsafe for humans to live in, but after a few of the androids who had already been staying there offered it as the new headquarters for the android revolution, there had been enough work done on the place that it looked better than a lot of places in Detroit.

He nodded his head to a few of the androids who were hanging around outside, enjoying the nice weather. They gave him a distrustful look, obviously not pleased to have a human walking around like they owned the place.

Not that Hank gave a shit. If Markus had just answered his calls he wouldn’t be here right now anyways.

Despite how important Markus was, it didn’t take long for him to convince the android man at the desk to allow him to go up. A flash of his badge, name dropping Connor, and just mentioning how he knew them and he was on his way.

Markus, with a flare for the dramatic, seemed to have set up an office in one of the top apartments. It had a great view of a lot of Detroit, but Hank barely noticed as he marched down the hallway to get to his destination. Reaching it, he shoved the door open without so much as a knock.

There was a large desk in the center of the room and a rather stressed out android sitting at it. He startled at the sound of the door opening, his eyes shooting up to take in the unhappy form of Hank.

“Lieutenant Anderson?” Makrus asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Did you fucking forget how to pick up a damn phone?” he asked, his voice loud and gruff.

The sound of footsteps reached Hank’s ears, two more androids appearing in the door frame. From the glance Hank had behind him, it seemed to be North and Simon.

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant, I’ve been very busy,” he said, his voice steady, reasonable.

The last thing Hank wanted at the moment was reasonable. Nothing about this situation was reasonable.

“Too busy to look for the person who helped you win a revolution,” Hank said, barely keeping his contempt out of his voice. Usually, he liked Markus. Usually, they got along great, better than he and Connor sometimes.

This was not usually or one of those times.

“What are you talking about?” North asked. She crossed her arms and leaned up against the door. Hank wasn’t sure if it was meant to be an act of laziness or an act of protection, showing Hank that he wasn’t going to leave the roof until she told him so.

“Connor!” Hank yelled. “I’ve been trying to reach you for the past two fucking weeks because he’s gone missing!”

“Missing?” Simon said. Hank could see the concern and fear in the blonde android’s eyes. “What do you mean, missing?”

Hank sighed. “We’ve been investigating the increase in android disappearances for the past couple of months. About a month ago, while we were investigating a disappearance, Connor was attacked.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, handing it over to Markus. “We found this symbol on the knife that was shoved into Connor.”

“He was stabbed?” Simon asked, his voice quiet.

Hank looked over at him and nodded. “He was okay. Just needed some thirium and rest and he was as good as new.” He turned back to stare at Markus. “The problem is the fact that two weeks ago while we were having lunch, Connor just took off. I think he saw the girl from the scene and chased after her without waiting for backup.”

Hank stared down at his hands. He hated to admit this next part, that if he had just been faster this might not have happened at all. Or if he’d at least been able to hold onto Connor’s jacket, even for a second, it might have slowed him down enough that he would have lost track of the girl anyways.

“I searched everywhere, but couldn’t find him. Eventually I had to call in backup, which is when they found his jacket and a shit load of thirium, as well as their calling card,” he waved his hands towards his phone, “but no Connor.”

“You think they took him?” North asked. “Why? Like, no offense, but I don’t understand what that gets them exactly. He’s a cop, why would they take him?”

Markus flipped Hank’s phone over in his hand, similar to the way Hank had witnessed Connor fidgeting with things before. “Connor is an advanced prototype with very specific skills,” he said. “Plus, he’d probably recorded them and they couldn’t let him go then.”

Hank let out a frustrated sigh. “That’s what we were figuring, too. Which, if it was just because Connor had seen their faces…” He trailed off, allowing them to draw their own conclusions. “But if it was because they thought he might be helpful to them in some way, then he might still be alive.”

Simon nodded his head towards Hank’s phone, still in Markus’s hand. “Do you have any leads on the gang’s symbol?”

“Not yet,” Hank said, sinking down into a chair in front of Markus’s desk. “We know it's called an Ouroboros symbol, but we don't have any connections to it yet. I was hoping you guys might have some luck recognizing it.”

“Why would we know anything about their sign?” North asked. Regardless of her words, she walked across the room to get a good look at the phone.

“Because we think that they’re involving androids in more ways than just kidnapping them,” he said. “We can’t prove it, because there’s never enough evidence, but it seems like a lot of the androids end up leaving semi-willingly.”

“Semi-willingly?” Markus asked.

“There’s always thirium at the scene. But we’ve never seen enough of it to say that it was lethal to an android. Plus, there’s the fact that all of the disappearances, aside from Connor’s, have had footprints leading away from the scene, and none of them seemed to be particularly hurried or frantic like you would expect a kidnapping victims to be. No one's seen or heard from them again, but we've also never found any bodies or evidence that they were actually killed.”

“Maybe they offer them something,” North said, peering at the symbol on the phone. “You know, make them an offer they can’t refuse type of thing.”

Hank snorted. The fact that an android had just quoted the classic movie, The Godfather, just seemed strange to him, even after all that had happened in the past year.

“That would make sense for a lot of them,” Hank said. “Many of the androids that have come up missing don’t have what you would call ‘stable lives’. Most of them are squatters or worse.”

“So what do you offer an android to get them to come with you?” North asked, her hand on her chin in concentration.

“Safety,” Simon and Markus said at the same time. They looked up at each other, a clear understanding shining between the two of them. 

“If you could promise them safety or a better life, it’s hard to believe that they wouldn’t go with them,” Simon said.

“But they could have that here!” North said. Hank could practically see her resisting the urge to slam her hands on Markus’s desk out of frustration. “We could give that to them.”

“A lot of us were killed during our peaceful protest,” Markus said. “I’ve heard from several different android groups who don’t wish to join us because they think that we went about all of this wrong.” His fists tightened, holding back his emotions. “They see us partnering and working things out with humans, and they think that it’s a mistake that will get us killed.”

North’s face fell, looking down at the desk. “We might have lost people, but we would have lost more if we had chosen to fight.” She looked up at Markus, admiration still obvious on her face. “I know that now. But I can sort of understand where these groups are coming from on that front, I suppose.”

“What about all of the thirium then? That doesn’t seem very willing,” Simon said.

“No, it doesn’t,” Hank said. “Which is why they’re still considered kidnapping cases or at the very least disappearances.” He scratched at the back of his head. Frustration was practically rolling off of him in waves. “I’m not saying that these androids necessarily went with them willingly, just that we can’t find evidence of them being forced to go.”

“And this symbol is the gang’s calling card?” Markus said.

“Yeah,” Hank said. “It wasn’t until we’d noticed the symbol on the knife Connor was stabbed with, but we managed to find a similar design at some other crime scenes. Most of them were hidden, though.”

North glanced over to Markus. “Do you think it could be a message?”

“A message to who?” Simon asked.

“A message to us,” Markus said, his voice steely. He released a noise similar to a sign and opened up one of his desk drawers. From inside it, he pulled out a large manila envelope with something rattling inside.

“Several months ago we received this in the mail.” He turned the envelope upside down, a necklace sliding out of it. “There was a letter, asking us to meet up with this gang called the Ouroboros Gang, who claimed to have had better intentions for androids than we do. They said that if we wanted to meet with them, then we would need to follow their instructions to the letter, no cops, no tricks, just us having a meeting with them.”

“And you didn’t think to fucking tell the cops?” Hank asked, anger in his voice.

Markus looked him straight in the eyes. “You must understand, Hank, we receive as many threats as we do offers. There are plenty of people, androids and humans alike, who would like to align themselves to us for power.” He glanced down at the necklace, the black ouroboros design stark against the white color of his desk. “If we had truly taken them seriously as a threat we would have immediately alerted the police.”

Hank picked up the necklace, cursing under his breath about ‘stubborn androids’. Why did it seem that all of the androids in his life wanted to try and do everything on their own? If Markus had told the police about this group before, they might have been one step closer to stopping them. And if Connor had waited for backup, or at the very least, Hank, then they wouldn’t even been in this position.

The necklace was simple. Its chain and design were black, the symbol of the snake eating its own tail vivid against Hank’s pale hand. It was tacky looking, reminding Hank of something he might have worn back in his younger days when we was regularly attending punk concerts.

“So how did they say to find them?” he asked, running his hand over the design. 

Markus gestured with his head towards the necklace. “The necklace is the path. When an android touches it, an image appears, similar to how we used to hide Jericho. The only problem is, is that the necklace is encrypted with some sort of protection. As we had no intention of joining or negotiating with them, we didn’t see a reason to try and decode it.”

“But could you now?” Hank asked. “Now that you know it might save Connor, could you decode it?”

“Perhaps,” Markus said. “We will certainly try. But, there’s always a chance that the place the necklace leads to was only supposed to be for our meeting and not their central location.”

North reached over and took the necklace from Hank’s hands. “I’ll go ahead and get started on it,” she said. Hank couldn’t help but notice the tone of her voice as she snatched the necklace from him and stomped out of the door. Simon, after taking one last look at the two people remaining in the room, also left.

“Trouble in paradise?” Hank asked, not really expecting an answer.

“I didn’t tell her about the necklace when we received it,” Markus said, a hint of regret in his voice.

Hank could feel his eyebrows raise up nearly into his hairline. “Really? I thought you guys were all about that ‘sharing is caring’ shit,” he said. “Doesn’t really seem like you to hide something like that from her.”

The android sank down into his chair, exasperation apparent in every way. “I spoke to some of our security about the risk, it’s not like I made the decision to not contact them all on my own.” He glanced out of the window, taking in the view of Detroit outside. “I knew that if I had told North about it, then she would want to meet up with this group. She’s calmed down a lot since the revolution, but she still sometimes makes impulsive decisions. I didn’t feel like it was the best idea to put her into contact with people who are perhaps not as dedicated to a peaceful cause.”

He’d probably made the right decision, from what Hank could tell. North was headstrong, and strong in general, but from what he’d gathered from Connor, she could be a bit of a loose cannon when it came to rules.

“But how have you been, Hank?” Markus asked. “I can’t imagine how you’re doing with Connor missing.”

Just hearing the other android say that Connor was missing sent a stab of something painful down Hank’s spine. If Hank was entirely honest with himself, he’d been hoping that the kid had been picked up by someone with Jericho and had just been hiding out here until he was better. It was the safest thought he’d had since Connor had gone missing, but he knew how unlikely it had been anyways.

“How do you think I’m doing?” Hank rudely asked.

He could feel Markus turned to scan him. It was similar to the scans Connor performed, but not quite similar enough.

“I’m sorry I didn’t return your calls,” he said after a moment. “But you’re not the only one who has been investigating the android disappearances.”

“I take it you’ve been having problems then, too?” Hank asked. Now that he at least had a lead, somewhere to start, he felt a little better. A little more generous towards the other android. 

“Jericho hasn’t, really. But everyday we gain more and more androids who talk about their friends and family going missing. Sometimes it’s obvious what happened; some androids just join different causes, but others are more serious than that. We haven’t been able to find out any more about these disappearances that you have, but it seems like we might be looking for the same group.”

“How long do you think that it will take North to crack that necklace?” he asked.

An uncertain look came over Markus’s face. “I’m not sure. North is good at hacking into systems, but I get the feeling that they’re probably more advanced than most.”

There didn’t seem to be anything else to do about it then. He supposed he could take the necklace down to the police station and have some of the technicians try their hand at it, but he doubted that it would help. The message had been meant for Jericho members, and the androids here could be trusted to handle something like this.

“Hank,” Markus said as soon as Hank stood up. Hank stopped, taking in the android behind the desk. If it was possible for an android to look exhausted, he did. “I really am sorry that I never got back to you. You know I would have if I had known it was about Connor.”

There was a look of respect in Markus’s eyes that always came about when ever he mentioned Connor. They might have once been on the opposing sides of the revolution, but the second Connor had switched it was like they had been old friends or colleagues catching up. 

Hank could understand where that respect came from. On both sides.

“I know,” Hank said. “And I’m sorry about storming in here like that.”

Markus smiled. “No you’re not.”

“You’re right,” Hank smiled back. “I’m not. Call me if you find out anything else about this group.”


	6. Chapter 6

Cole wasn’t exactly sure what kind of research they were doing, but he had to admit that it was nice being outside.

The way out hadn’t been nice, however. 

“Why do we have to crawl through the sewers to get out of the hotel?” Cole had asked. He still wasn’t sure what questions he should ask or leave unanswered, but as it didn’t seem like he would be leaving on his own any time soon, he figured he might as well gather all of the information he could.

“I already told you, we don’t want people to find out where we live. If they start seeing a ton of androids coming out of an old hotel, they’re going to know something is up,” Jesse had said. She was leading the way, a flashlight in hand. Occasionally there would be marks on the walls, signs that Cole assumed were leading to and from the Swift Plaza.

“Oh, right,” Cole said. 

It wasn’t a long walk before they were able to climb out of the sewer and into an alley. Cole’s sensitive nose informed him of the nature of the debris in the alley, scans running almost non-stop until they left it far behind.

“So what kind of research are we doing?” Cole asked. 

Ash glanced over at him and frowned. He pulled Cole’s hat down further, ensuring that no one could see the LED on the side of his head and that his face was almost completely obscured. “You sure like to ask a lot of questions.”

“It’s in my programming to be naturally curious. It can be quite useful when investigating,” he informed.

“Yeah, well you know what they say about curiosity and the cat,” Ash muttered.

“No,” Cole said, “what?”

Ash looked at him for a long second before rolling his eyes He quickened his pace so that he was a little further ahead of them.

“Just ignore him,” Jack said, placing a hand on his shoulder. He’d done that a lot since Cole had woken up, although he wasn’t sure why. He was an android, it wasn’t as though he required comforting. “You’ll see soon enough what we're doing.”

Soon, the group came to a store that must have been an old store similar to a CyberLife one, except this one was now advertising all of the knock-off parts that they had to offer. A quick scan revealed a sign to Cole’s left, explaining that the store was able to 3D print their own parts, and thus were not affected by the CyberLife shortage. A smaller, much harder sign to see advertised that they were a discrete business, who didn’t ask many questions.

“They’re an illegal business aren’t they?” Cole asked turning back to the group. “They lure broken androids without any money in and deactivate them.”

“Told you he was a good detective,” Jesse said, a slight smile on her face. It quickly slipped off with her next words. “But, yes. They are a chop-shop for androids. Granted, they don't shut them all down. That would be too suspicious.”

Cole thought back to all of the androids who were walking around without any humans accompanying them. Despite the fact that he himself was not a deviant, it was becoming more and more clear that they were no longer something seen as a problem that he needed to stop.

Which left him with a strange questioning as to what his existence was for if the things he had been created to hunt were now accepted.

“We’ve had some of our friends visit there before,” Ash said. “They either come back worse off than they went in, or they don’t come back at all.”

“And what have the police said about this?” Cole asked. “You have tried going to the police about this, correct?”

“They wouldn’t do anything about it, anyways. They know that the products in there are the equivalent of a back-alley surgery for humans, but that hasn’t stopped shops like these from popping up all over the country,” Jack said. His arms were crossed, everything about him hard.

A sinking feeling happened deep down within Cole’s center. He couldn’t place where the feeling was coming from or what was even causing it, but he knew that it had to be important. 

“We’ve saved some, but others… well, others weren’t so lucky,” Ash said, balling up his fists. He stared directly at the building, as if he could light it on fire from his looks alone. “Its seems like all people want to do is talk about fixing the issue, rather than actually do it.”

“What we’re here to do is see if the place has any weaknesses,” Jesse said. “Anything that we could use.”

Cole scanned the building. What it lacked in quality products, it made up for in security. There were at least four cameras on the front part of the building alone, with who knows how many more inside. There was also a scanner on the entrance, a subtle one that most people would likely over look. That was likely to scan if whoever was coming in was an android or a human. There were also alarms on the windows, which would activate and immediately call the cops if too much force were applied to them.

All of this on a building that looked like it would fall apart at any minute.

“I’d need to see the inside to get a better picture,” Cole said. “The outside is pretty well protected, and there’s a scanner on the underside of the door and while it’s hard to tell, I’m pretty sure that it’s supposed to scan what model you are and what biocomponents you have.”

“That explains how they know who to take,” Ash said. He explained further once Cole looked at him. “They’ve taken some people who didn’t even get checked out through them, just went there with their friends.”

“We could go in there,” Jesse said. “Pretend to be customers, get a better look?”

“That would probably be the best way to get a better idea of what we’re dealing with,” Cole said. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel at least a little bit excited about what they were doing. There was the gnawing feeling that he knew he shouldn’t be, however, as only deviants were supposed to feel things, and he most certainly wasn’t a deviant. 

But these androids seemed nice, and they seemed like they had a good cause going. Would it truly be so bad to help them out?

“Okay,” Jesse said. She pulled her ponytail through her baseball cap and gestured for Cole to come closer to her. “We’re going to go in. You guys stay out here, just in case anything goes wrong. We’ll call you if we need help.” She tapped her LED, letting them know how she would call. “Ready?” she asked, turning towards Cole.

“As I’ll ever be,” he said.

XXX

The inside of the store was dim compared to the CyberLife stores that Cole had programmed memories of. He heard the almost inaudible beep as they entered, knowing that they would have likely scanned what kind of models they were before they had even made it two steps in.

“Hello!” a human man said from behind the counter. He was older, his jowls swinging as he gave Cole and Jesse a once over. “How may I help you?”

Jesse elbowed Cole in the stomach, forcing him to bend forward. “My friend here is running low on thirium, and we were wondering if you had any in stock.”

The man ran his eyes over Cole with suspicion. Surely, he recognized that there were better stores for the two of them to buy thirium at. There had been those even before the androids had began to turn deviant.

“Sure, sure,” the man said, his eyes roaming over Cole. There was something in his eyes, almost like recognition, but he said nothing. “I’ll be back.”

The second the man was gone, Cole began his scan. 

There were five cameras in the room, with one more in the back from what he could see. A panic button was back behind the counter, although it didn’t seem to be active. This was likely not the place that you wanted the cops called to, anyways. There was also some sort of identification panel that led to the back room, although it didn’t seem to be too hard to get through. He’d caught a glance into the back room, where the man had gone to get thirium from, and noticed several real android parts inside.

“Here,” he said. His customer service voice was gone, and he was staring at Cole. Jesse seemed to notice this, too, because we quickly slapped some money down on the table and took the thirium from him.

“Let’s go Cole,” she said, grabbing his arm and forcing him out.

XXX

It was almost a week before Cole saw Travis again. It seemed that Cole had been correct in saying that it was too dangerous for the humans of the gang to stay there and had other living arrangements.

“Cole, can I talk to you buddy?” he asked.

Cole wasn’t sure why, but the nickname warmed him in ways that didn’t make sense. Faintly, he wondered if it had any connection to his last memory wipe, but he shook them off. He was _not_ deviating, and only deviants were able to be warmed by mere words.

“Sure,” he said, excusing himself from the card game between Ash, Jack, and Jesse. Jack was a whiz at poker and had managed to take almost all of their chips. Cole wasn’t sure what they were playing for, as most of them didn’t have any money, but he enjoyed playing it done the less.

He led him to one of the rooms off to the side, a room that was likely once for boardroom meetings or something like that, but now was used as Travis’s office.

“Go ahead, sit down.” he said, waving to the seat in front of his desk. He himself sat down on the edge of the desk, near enough to Cole that he was almost touching him.

“So Cole,” he started. “You’ve been with us for about a months or so now, right?” He waited until Cole nodded before continuing. “I thought so. How do you like it so far?”

Cole thought over the question for a moment, heavily considering. He couldn’t remember the life he had lived before, but he doubted that he’d had as much fun as he was having now. Ash, Jesse, and Jack were almost always wanting to do something, whether that was go out to scout out another chop shop, play a game of cards, or just sit around and talk. He was never lonely, never had much time to mourn the loss of his thoughts.

Not that he would, of course. Only deviants mourned things.

“I think I like it here,” he said. It seemed to be the option that held the most truth as well as the option least likely to get him in trouble.

“That’s good to hear,” Travis said. “I heard you’ve been going out with Jack, Jesse, and Ash lately. A few recon missions?”

He rubbed his hands together, a nervous tick that he had noticed he possessed. “They’ve allowed me to come with them a few times to help and inspect some of the shops in town that are selling knock-off parts.” He forced himself to stop rubbing his hands together, instead choosing to set them in his lap. “I think that I’ve been useful to them.”

“Do you like being useful, Cole?” he asked. He leaned forward, ducking down so he was closer to his eye level.

“I,” Cole paused for a moment, wondering what the right answer was. “I like helping the other three out. I’m still not sure what we’re going to do with this information, but I’m glad that I could be of use to them.”

A smile came over Travis’s face. “That’s the spirit! That’s what I like to here.” He hopped off of his desk and went around to one of the drawers on the other side. He rifled through it for a moment before pulling out something that resembled and IV and a bag for thirium. 

“Would you mind if I took a sample?” Travis asked, preparing the bag even though Cole hadn’t answered yet. “It wouldn’t be much.”

Cole shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Something about this felt wrong. “Why would you need a sample of my thirium?” he asked.

Travis walked over, gesturing for Cole to roll up the sleeve to his flannel. “Just to make sure you’re still doing alright. A minor formality I like to do with some of our newer members,” he said. When he noticed Cole hadn’t moved he continued speaking. “I’m not saying you have to, of course, I’m just saying that it would be very helpful to me if you did, okay son?”

A twinge of something sparked in his memories, although Cole couldn’t place it. “How much will you take?” he asked, eyeing the bag. It didn’t look like it would hold much, but then again thirium wasn’t exactly anything to play around with.

“Not much, of course, I’ll only take enough for this bag. I just need to run a few samples,” he said. “You know, just to make sure all of you is adapting to your newer parts still.”

Cole resisted the urge to point out that he had scans that could tell him if he was having problems with his new parts. Now didn’t seem to be the time for it.

Reluctantly, he rolled up the sleeve to his flannel, baring his arm to the man in front of him. The man quickly pressed on the inner part of Cole’s arm, revealing a slide away panel that would allow him to place his IV in.

“Good job, kid,” he said as he noticed the blue blood filling up the bag. He looked up at Cole’s eyes, almost as if searching for something. “So, still thinking being a machine is better than deviating?”

“I am a machine,” Cole said automatically. He didn’t even have to think about his answer, he just said it. Didn’t that help to prove he was a machine?

Travis waved his hand through the air, as if he was swatting away his answer. “Yeah, I know, all of the androids here are. That’s what androids _are_. But that doesn’t mean that’s all that you are. Haven’t you been noticing any feelings lately? Something that might suggest you’re more than they programmed you to be.”

He thought back over the past couple of weeks, which had been filled with what others would no doubt call happiness, or at the very least an enjoyment of what he had been doing. 

“No,” he said firmly. He didn’t feel like he could admit even that.

Travis leaned back. “I see.”

“Not that I’m not grateful for all that you’ve done for me,” he said. “I’m just not programmed for those types of things.”

He looked down, noticing that the bag was almost full. He scanned his internal thirium levels and they were still in the ninety percent range, which meant that Travis had been telling the truth when he had said that he and just wanted a little bit of his thirium.

“Sometimes people can surprise you,” Travis said. “Sometimes, androids even more so.”


	7. Chapter 7

_“Police are saying that the new string of Red Ice is especially dangerous. If you or a loved one have recently used Red Ice medical officials are encouraging you to seek immediate medical attention. Back to you, Katie.”_

_“Thanks, Sarah. The top story tonight is one that has been going on for months now which is, where are all the androids? Reports have been coming in for the past few months now about the disappearances of androids all of the city and it seems as if the police have no leads as to what might be going on here. An inside source says that they did not even begin investigating until one of their own was taken, although we cannot confirm the accuracy of this story at this time…”_

Why the hell did they need the TVs to be turned to the news all the time? Couldn’t they just fucking put on some shitty infomercials and forget about it? It would certainly be easier to focus on their work when they weren't constantly having to hear how everyone believed they were completely useless.

Hank Anderson looked like shit. He knew he looked like shit, too, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

It had been two months since Connor had disappeared, and so far there hadn’t even been so much as a whisper about where he had gone. Androids were still coming up missing, symbols were still being left, and Connor was still gone.

He growled as his computer took more than a second to load, barely restraining the urge to throw it across the room. He’d already been reprimanded for throwing a hot cup of coffee at Gavin, who had dared to look at him for too long. It had missed, which was likely the only reason he hadn't been sent home, but it hadn't made anyone in the office any happier about it.

Androids without any money going missing. Connor going missing. The Ouroboros symbol. Somehow all of this connected, but Hank just couldn’t figure it out _how_ it connected.

He’d started to slip up every now and then, too. While Connor had been staying with him he’d sworn off any form of alcohol. Now, with the stress of his disappearance and the lack of any true leads, he’d began to drink again. It wasn’t every night like it used to be, he still wanted to be able to try and puzzle through Connor’s case to the best of his abilities, but on more than one occasion he had used the liquor to lure himself to sleep.

So far he’d managed to avoid the call of the other option, the more permanent option, but that was just because he still didn’t know what had happened to Connor. The thought of ending his existence before he knew what had happened to him was something that was too terrifying to consider.

“Anderson,” Gavin’s voice called out to him. It was likely not the first time that he had tried to say anything, based on the expression on his face. Gavin had been giving him an especially wide berth as of late, but Hank could still feel his eyes on him most of the time.

“What?” he asked, not caring how rude he came off.

“One of those androids from Jericho are here,” he said. Her jerked his thumb over his shoulder, in the direction of North, who was standing near his desk. “She says that it’s important, and that you’re gonna wanna hear it.”

Hank looked over Gavin's shoulder to North, who was inspecting the things on Gavin’s desk. “Thanks,” he said. He pushed himself away from his desk to move towards North, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Hank,” Gavin said hesitantly. He let out a sigh, and shook his head. “Just- just be careful, okay? I know you want to find him, but you can’t do that if you’re dead.”

The anger that had rose up within Hank when Gavin had stopped him disappeared. He knew that Gavin was attempting to be kind, to try and help him in his own way, and while Hank appreciated it, he would appreciate it more if it wasn’t necessary.

“I hear you,” Hank said. He brushed Gavin’s hand off and kept walking towards North. “I’ll stop once we’ve found him.”

North looked up once she noticed him coming towards her. She seemed nervous to be in the police station, almost as if he she had just jumped into a pool full of sharks. Hank had always tried to pretend that he hadn’t ever noticed what type of model of android she was, but they both knew that he had. And that her process for deviating likely hadn’t been a pleasant one.

“Let’s go in here,” he said, opening up one of the doors to a private room. There would be no point in her helping him if she was close to self-destructing herself.

North nodded gratefully and walked into the room. As soon as she was in there she relaxed, her shoulders laying back in a more North-like way.

“So what have you found?” he asked.

“I’ve managed to track down one of the members of this gang. They call themselves the Ouroboros Gang, clearly very original.” She rolled her eyes at them and handed Hank a tablet. “He said that he was willing to meet up with me again, as well as Simon, as long as we were serious about uniting Jericho and the Ouroboros.”

Hank scrolled through the tablet, taking in the few pictures and files it had on it. Most of them were pictures of standard model androids coming and going from different locations around Detroit, disguised as humans. There were also a few files, with the names of several different androids on them.

“Unite Jericho and Ouroboros?” Hank asked. He didn’t really like the sound of that.

“Yes,” North said. Her eyes were dark, her expression serious. “They wouldn’t meet with us until we agreed, and even still they are working out the details.”

“So when will we know anything about the meeting?” Hank asked. 

North shrugged. “I’ve just managed to make contact with them. Right now, they seem to be running the show.” She stepped closer to Hank, her voice lower. “Markus hates this idea, you know? He’ll do anything to get Connor back, of course, but the idea of even associating the name of Jericho with these guys…” She trailed off, looking away from Hank.

Hank did have to admit that there was likely nothing good that could come from aligning themselves with. Aside from Connor’s safe return that is. “Do we know who’s running the show?” 

“It’s a human, we know that much,” North said. “But he’s pretty well hidden. He doesn’t come out very often, or at least not with the androids.”

“A human leading an android gang?” Hank asked incredulously.

“Seems like it. Like I said, we don’t know much about him yet. Simon and I are hoping to get more information after they contact us,” she said.

“Let me know the second they contact you, okay?” Hank asked, staring at North. “They’ve already shown us that they can be violent and that they’re not above kidnapping people. I don’t want to hear about something happening to you two, too.”

North smiled at him. It wasn’t a full smile, not like Hank had seen her make towards Markus. Instead it was more mischievous, something that made her look absolutely like the deviant she was. “I’d like to see them fucking try.”

XXX

The rest of the day was spent going over the reports North had given him. There weren’t many of them, but they were more than what he had had before. 

It seemed that the groups of androids liked to go out in groups of three or four at a time. Safety in numbers? There were still plenty of anti-android people out there to perhaps warrant the added benefits of more people, but he couldn’t be sure. He wasn’t even sure if it was the same group of androids every time, as they mostly covered their faces when they went out.

Eventually, he rubbed his eyes and called it a day. He knew that he wouldn’t be any good to anyone if he stayed any longer, and would likely only get more and more frustrated until he snapped at someone else. He’d already snapped at enough people that week as it was.

The first thing he noticed that was weird about his house was the fact that the lights were on, despite the fact that he distinctly remember turning them off when he left.

The second thing he noticed was the large android sitting on his doorstep.

“Luther?” Hank asked, disbelief in his voice. He quickly holstered his gun upon realizing who it was. “What the hell are you doing here?” 

He stood up from Hank’s porch, giving Hank a tense smile as he did so. “We heard what happened to Connor,” he said. “We thought we could help somehow.”

Hank’s face scrunched up. “We?” he asked.

Luther nodded. “Well, Alice thought we might help. And Kara can never tell her no.”

“And what about you?” Hank asked, a challenge in his tone as he pushed past the android to open the door. “Don’t you know how to say no?”

“I personally didn’t see a reason to,” he said. “Connor is our friend, and so are you. It seemed wrong to not try and help somehow.”

The living room was clean. All of the bottles of beer and other booze had been disposed of (and the half empty ones likely poured out), and the pizza boxes and other fast food wrappers were nowhere in sight. Someone had even vacuumed the floors and Sumo’s dog bed.

It looked like a completely new house. 

It looked like it had right after Connor had moved in.

“Hank?” Kara asked from the kitchen.

Hank pulled his eyes away from the living room to see Kara, Alice, and Sumo all gathered in the kitchen. Kara was cooking something on the stove, while Alice brushed Sumo with one of his doggy brushes. Occasionally, she would stop and hug the dog or whisper something in his ear.

Hank tried to ignore the familiar tug at his heart as he watched her play with dog. Cole had been the same way. Hell, even _Connor_ acted that way sometimes.

“I thought that was you,” she said, smiling softly at him as he came in. She placed a hand on Alice’s head and bent down to her level. “Alice, honey, why don’t you go watch TV in the living room?”

She looked up at Kara and then at Hank before nodding her head. Quickly, she gathered up her things and ran into the living room, calling for Sumo as she ran by. 

“Hi, Mr. Anderson!” she said as she darted past.

“Hey, Alice,” he said with a half-hearted wave.

Kara gave a nervous smile as she went to turn back to the stove. “You didn’t have much in the pantry so I hope macaroni and cheese is fine,” she said, her voice quick. “Tomorrow, Luther or I can go to the store to pick up some more food, and then we’ll-”

“Kara,” Hank said, cutting her off. “Why are you here?”

She froze, letting her smile fall. She placed the spoon back next to the pot and wiped her hands on a clean dish towel. “Markus told us what happened,” she said. “Alice wanted to talk to Connor, so when we couldn’t get a hold of him we tried Markus.” She looked up at Hank, and the full force of her worry hit him. “He said that he was _missing_?” Her voice went up an octave on the last word, her concern now audible. “What does that mean? What happened?”

Hank opened his mouth but closed it as soon as Luther walked back into the room, followed right behind by Alice. “Mr. Anderson,” Alice asked shyly, “Is it okay if we take Sumo for a walk?” 

Hank glanced out the window, noting that it was getting dark. He glanced at Luther, who he knew would never let anything happen to Alice, and nodded. “Sure thing,” he said, trying to keep his voice light-heaorted. “Don’t take to long though, okay? It’s almost dark.”

Alice’s eyes landed on Sumo, who was thumping his tail against the tiled floor of the kitchen. “Is he scared of the dark?” she asked. 

He wished that everything was this simple. He missed the simplicity of a child’s world and their questions. “Yes, he’s very scared of the dark. So you and Luther are going to have to be very brave for him.”

“Okay!” Alice said, her face splitting into a grin as she grabbed onto Sumo’s leash. “Come on, Sumo!”

Sumo, the gentle but lazy soul that he is, simple trotted along behind her.

Once they were gone from the house the discussion resumed.

“We were investigating a few cases of androids who had gone missing,” Hank said. “We think that the same people who took the other androids are the same ones who took Connor.”

“That’s not a lot of information to go on,” Kara said. She took the pot of noodles off of the stove, dumped the water, and quickly began mixing in the liquid cheese packet from the box. “How long has he been missing?”

“Two months ago. We were at lunch and he chased down a suspect who had been at the crime scene. We haven’t been able to find a trace of him since.”

She plated up the food and sat it down at the table. Hank opened the fridge and noticed that there was only bottles of water left inside. Kara must have gone through and poured all of his beer out. 

“Two months, God,” she said sadly. She brushed a few strands of hair from her face as she thought over his words. “And how have you been in those two months?”

Practically throwing himself into his seat, he gave her a steady look. She’d seen the house when she’d let herself in. If anyone knew how he was doing, it was her.

“How do you think?” he asked, with no real heat to his words. 

She slid into the chair opposite him, her arms resting on the table. “You know he wouldn’t want you to act like this,” she said.

“Yeah,” Hank said, glaring at her. “Well, he ain’t here, is he?”

She chewed on her lip and looked away, instead taking in the rest of the kitchen. Hank looked her over, taking in as many details about her as he could. They’d never really met, at least not for more than quick introductions and goodbyes at certain events, but Hank had always liked her. She reminded him of his own ex-wife, back when Cole was still alive and they had still been a family.

It was Connor that had taken to her surprisingly quick. He and Alice had met and almost instantly hit it off, with Alice taking on an almost hero-worship view of him. He was an android _and_ a police officer. He had a _dog_. He was willing to let her _play_ with said dog.

It was like he had had a little sister, which seemed to be something he enjoyed. Hank couldn’t help but wonder if he would have felt the same way towards Cole if Cole had still been alive. Would the two of them had gotten along as well as the two androids did? Would they have taken Sumo on overly long walks and made a fake police badge so the younger wouldn’t feel left out?

Hank would never truly know. And that killed him.

“How did you get in here, anyways?” he asked. “I know I locked the door when I left.”

“Luther,” she said. “He managed to unlock one of your doors. You might need a new lock, by the way.” She pointed to his back door with the handle nearly hanging off. 

He signed and took a bite of his meal. “What is with you androids? First Connor breaks my window and now Luther breaks my door?”

Kara smiled at the joking tone in his voice. “We were just worried about you, Hank,” she said. I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re going through right now. If anyone ever tried to take Alice or Luther away from me I’d-” She broke off, looking back down at her hands. “Family is important. And we consider you and Connor family. You know that you can talk to us, right?”

The sad part was that he did know he could talk to them. But at the same time he knew that he never would. They weren’t part of the revolution, not on the same scale Markus and Connor had been, and they were like a proper family now. It seemed wrong to bring all of this stuff to them and lay it on them to carry.

She reached over and patted him on the hand. “Alice wanted to give you something,” she said. She stood up and rummaged around in a bag that was currently on the counter near the stove. “She thought that Connor might like it, but since he isn’t here I thought it might be best if we gave it to you.”

It was a cube with colorful squares plastered on it. A Rubik’s Cube. It had been years since Hank had seen one, at least one that was was as primitive as plastic, glue, and paper. Most of them now had screens or talked or something that Hank didn’t quite understand.

“I had so many of these as a kid,” he said, admiring how great the condition still was. 

Kara smiled softly as him. “Alice thought he might like that since he loves to fidget with things. Might help you stay sane if he isn’t always flipping a coin, too,” she said.

He placed the cube down onto the table, picturing Connor playing with it. Kara was right, of course, Connor would love it. He wondered how long it would take the android to figure out how to solve it, especially if Hank refused to let him use his pre-constructing feature.

“Thank you,” he said. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”

The rest of dinner was silent as Hank chewed on the mac and cheese. It was better than anything he had been eating lately, but it still unnerved him that androids didn’t need to eat. It always made him feel messy or something when Connor would just still there while he chowed down.

“How long are you in town for?” Hank asked. He was sure that they had moved to Canada to escape the android revolution, but he wasn’t certain if they had stayed there. All three of them were from Detroit, but it didn’t exactly hold pleasant memories for any of them so there might not be any reason for them to stay.

“As long as you need us,” Kara said. “Markus has space for us at New Jericho and said that we can stay there as long as we need to.” She looked deep into Hank’s eyes, clearly hoping to see something there. “Plus, I don’t know if it’s a good idea to leave you alone right now.”

Hank snorted. “I’m fine, Kara. There’s nothing to worry about.”

She shook her head and threw out her arm, gesturing to the rest of the room. “You call living like this _fine_? How many drinks do you take a night, huh? Do you really think that this is helping him? That he would want us to leave you alone?”

He planted his hands on the table and stood up. He made sure to keep back from her, not wanting to scare her but to get his point across. “Dammit, Kara, I know what I’m doing! You think I don’t know that I’d be disappointing him if he knew?” He paused, the tightness in his chest that always came when he thought about Connor emerged. “You think it’s easy going to sleep in this house? The house that’s lost two kids?” He jabbed a finger in her direction. “I used to go to sleep to the sound of Cole’s breathing and whatever show he was demanding be on the TV in his room before he went to bed. And then, after he was gone and Connor came along, I went to sleep to the sound of Connor messing around the house or watching TV or listening to music or any of the other hundreds of things that used to drive me insane.” He fought to keep his voice even, to keep the cracks and breaks from becoming noticeable, as he stared her down. “So yeah, I drink at night to make sure I even sleep at all.”

Kara stared at him as if she were seeing him for the first time. Whatever she saw made her gaze soften as she walked around the table towards him. “Hank,” she said, placing her hand lightly on his arm. “He’s still out there. You haven’t lost him, okay? We’ll find him.” She slid her arms around him so that her small arms were firmly circling him. “But you need to take care of yourself first. You won’t be any use to him if you keep on acting like this.”

Tears filled Hank’s eyes as he thought about Connor. What would he think of him if he saw him now? He’d made such progress in the relatively short time since Connor had come to live with him, and now he’d basically fucked all of that up because he wasn’t strong enough not to.

“We’ll come over for dinner every night if you need us to,” she said. “I’ll make dinner, Alice can play with Sumo, and Luther, you, and I can try and figure this whole thing out.” She said it as it it were truly as simple as that, as if the problem could be fixed by a wholesome family dinner and a few brainstorming sessions.

“We’re not going to stop looking either, Hank,” she said. “We owe him too much to do that.”


	8. Chapter 8

Travis was taking thirium from him almost every day now. He was always very vague when Cole asked why, and Cole never pushed it, not wanting to seem ungrateful to the man who had taken him in and allowed him to find friends.

Yes, he would admit that the others were his friends. He didn’t think that that would classify him was a deviant, though.

Plus, Travis always made sure that Connor got extra thirium to replace that which had been taken from him. He’d tried to scan himself, to see if there was a reason why he might need so much thirium taken from him, but he’d been unable to find anything. All of his scans had showed that he was completely normal.

“Are you coming?” Jesse asked, shifting the backpack to her back. Ash and Jack were already standing in the corridor that would lead them to the outside world.

“Yeah, I’m coming,” he said. He shifted his own bag and quickly followed after them, not wanting to be left behind for this next part.

“So did you hear?” Ash asked, looking back at the rest of the group.

“Hear what?” Jack asked.

“Apparently there's some meeting happening soon. From Jericho itself,” he said, his tone bitter.

Cole attempted to recall exactly what Jericho was but his memories were hazy. “What’s Jericho?”

“It’s another group that are fighting for android rights,” Jack said. He’d reached the ladder they needed to climb up to get to the street and helped Ash up. “But we don’t exactly see eye to eye with them.”

Jesse was the next one to be helped up. She quickly followed Ash up until they disappeared above the surface.

“Why?” he asked as he took Jack’s hand. He quickly used the taller androids leg to boost himself up and grab a hold of the ladder. “Isn’t it good thing that they are fighting for android rights, too?”

The sun was nearly down by the time he reached the surface, it’s orange rays bouncing around off of the glass building surrounding them. By the time they reached their destination it would be almost completely dark. Or as dark as it got in the city, anyways.

“They are basically in the government’s pocket,” he said. “And right now the government is allowing these chop shops to stand because most of them don’t really see us as people,” Jack said.

Cole resisted the urge to point out that they _weren’t_ people, but only because of the fact that the last time he had done that he’d been shoved down the ladder they had just crawled up by Ash.

“Plus,” Jesse said, tying her hair back to better fit under her ball cap. “They allowed countless androids to be killed during their demonstrations. And violence is still happening against our kind, but they would rather sit back and talk about peace and love and bullshit before they even lift a finger to help anyone themselves.”

He bunched his brows together, his LED briefly spinning yellow as he took in this information. “So why meet with them?” he asked.

“Because Travis wants to,” Ash said. “Friends close, enemies closer and all that. It’d be easier to go against Jericho if we had any sort of idea what we were up against.”

“I thought we were only against the humans?” Cole said. “Now we’re against other androids?” 

“Only androids that would rather side with the humans like Jericho has,” Jack said.

“What about Travis? And the rest of the humans in the gang?” Cole asked.

“He’s different,” Jesse hissed. A brief scan warned Cole that her stress levels were rising and her likelihood to strike out at him was, too. “He was the one who woke a lot of us up. If he hadn’t done that, then we would have probably been killed when the humans started rounding us up and putting us in camps.”

Cole thought about this for a moment. It certainly explained their loyalty to the man, yet he couldn’t help but question if it was misplaced. He himself felt indebted to the man, but couldn’t help but wonder if even he was in the wrong to do so.

They reached the dumpster they were looking for and threw their backpacks in. They'd done this several times in the past week, although he wasn’t exactly sure to what end it was for. It was the part that came after that he was most interested in.

He glanced over and noticed that Jack still had his bag on. So, he was right. They were going through with the plan after all. They didn’t do it every night, sometimes it just consisted of dropping the bags off and going back home, but he was glad that they were going to that night.

It wasn’t a far walk to the latest chop shop that they had been investigating. It wasn’t as high tech on the security like the first one they had investigated, although Cole was certain he could break into that one as well if the others let him.

“Ready?” Jesse asked. He nodded, stepping in front of the others as he looked towards the cameras.

**> SYSTEMS_CAMERAS_DISABLED**

His eyes were twitching, blinking rapidly. This was something he’d noticed tended to happen whenever he interfaced with any systems or received any sort of communication cybernetically. None of the other androids seemed to do it, which made Cole wonder if something else was wrong with him, aside from his memory loss.

“Go,” he said, waving them in. 

They took off, running at the doors. Cole reached it first, his hand touching the locking panel and easily hacking in to it. Ash and Jesse raced into the building, while Jack grabbed onto Cole and pulled him in behind him.

“You know what to do,” Jesse said. 

They all went about their own jobs. Each one of them had their own specific job that they were responsible for taking care of. Jack took all the materials from his bag and passed them out to the others before throwing the bag in Cole’s direction.

Cole instantly went to work on loading it up with thirium. The parts from the stores were terrible, more likely to break down or poison the android who used them, but the thirium was still good. Something they had figured out from Jesse and Cole’s research mission a while back.

Jack and Ash immediately went about tearing apart the parts in the store. There was so no way that they were going to leave the pieces intact, just in case the store owner managed to open back up and sell their garbage products again.

Jesse, meanwhile, went to the cash register and immediately started to unload the money from the register into her pockets and her light jacket. Most people used cards nowadays or other electronic kinds of payment, especially androids, so there was usually very little money for them to take, but still, they took what they could.

Cole finished shoving the last of the thirium he could carry into his bag. He picked up one of the objects that Jack had dumped out of the bag and immediately began to leave their mark on the store.

This was something new that they were doing. Usually, when they broke into the store they just stole what they wanted, destroyed what they could, and ran off. This time was different though. This time they were going to let the world know who had hit this store, and that the rest of them weren’t safe from them either.

He hated to admit that he got a rush from this. That he actually _enjoyed_ this. He was an android, he wasn’t supposed to feel anything. But this, the fact that they were helping other androids, actually doing something and being proactive about it, it made him feel great. Powerful, even.

They left their electronic graffiti all around the store. The ouroboros symbol. Messages of defiance that no one could ever mistake for anything else other than that. _WE ARE STILL HERE. JUSTICE FOR ANDROIDS. WE WILL NOT BACK DOWN._

Let them try to ignore them now.

XXX

It was like the whole city went crazy after Connor disappeared, even if they didn’t know it. Connor’s case, which was beginning to border on a cold case due to lack of evidence, was slowly being pushed out of the limelight in favor of all of the other crimes that seemed to be springing up.

It seemed like the Ouroboros Gang had problems with the android repair places that had begun to appear shortly after the rebellion. There were multiple stores that had been attacked, all left with varying messages of defiance and resistance, along with their gang’s sign electronically scrawled across parts of the store.

They’d also taken all of the thirium from the stores, but left the parts behind. In fact, most of the parts seemed to have been destroyed.

Hank stomped into the precinct with murder on his mind. The last thing he’d wanted to do was go look at yet another store that had been defaced when he could have been looking for Connor. It was such a waste of his time, and yet Fowler hadn’t seen it that way.

He threw threw his keys and badge now onto the desk and slammed himself down into his chair, intending to stay there until he was done typing up his useless report about the break in and vandalism. He was a Lieutenant for God’s sake, why was he having to do these thefts and random acts of vandalism, even if they did have to do with androids? Couldn’t they hire someone else to do these things?

He glanced over at his cup of coffee, noticed that it was empty, and sighed. With all of the work he still had to do, he’d barely make it an hour before he passed out if he didn’t get more coffee. Sighing, he stood up and resigned himself to going and getting some more from the break area.

Gavin was there, nursing his own large cup of coffee. Dark bags under his eyes gave away the fact that he was also running on fumes and coffee alone.

“Hey,” he said gruffly. They weren’t friends, exactly, but they had been acting a bit more civilly since Connor’s disappearance. It was as if the disappearance of one of their own had bonded them somehow. Enough to at least exchange hellos without killing each other. For now. Or at least when Hank wasn't throwing coffee at him.

Alright, so it tended to depend on the day if they were actually getting along.

“Hey,” Gavin said, jerking his head up in response. He seemed to be out of it, staring at the tablet in front of him. Running a hand over his face, he clicked the tablet screen off and looked up at Hank.

“How’s it going?” Hank asked. He sat down at the tall table, wondering if he should be worried about the younger detective. 

“Pretty shitty,” Gavin said. He scratched the back of his head, the stress evident on his face. “There’s so much shit going on and we’ve got no leads so far.”

Hank reached over to take the tablet, asking with his eyes if it might be okay. The detective shrugged and waved him on, having no need to conceal anything from him. 

The tablet was filled with pictures and files from Gavin’s latest cases. Recently, there had been an outbreak of Red Ice going around, something that was stronger than it had ever been and even more addictive. There was a lot of it, too, with no clear distributor. At least not yet, anyways.

“This shit is strong, okay?” Gavin said. “Super addictive, super expensive. I don’t know what they’re doing differently to it, but whatever it is, it’s raised the price of this shit astronomically.” He took a long drink of his coffee before continuing. “The only lead we’ve got is these pictures.” He reached over Hank’s arm and tapped the screen to bring them up. “We think they’re the ones dropping the shit off for someone to pick up. We’ve noticed them around several dump sites in the area, but we can’t nail down a pattern or ever get close enough to see who they are.”

Hank stared at the pictures, a chill going down his spine. There they were, the same group of androids who had appeared in North’s photos, the same dark clothing and ball caps pulled low. He distinctly recognized the blonde hair that was shoved up under the ball cap.

“Do you have any more of these?” Hank asked, shaking the tablet. “These pictures?”

Gavin shook his head. “No, those are the only one’s we could get. Why?”

Hank held up his finger to say ‘one minute’ before running off to get his own tablet. He rushed back to Gavin and quickly pulled up his own photos. “Don’t these look like the same androids in this picture?” he asked, handing his tablet over to Gavin.

His eyes scrolled over the pictures, comparing them to each other. He sat up a bit straighter, more on edge and more aware than he had been a few minutes ago. A good lead was better than any coffee in the world. “Yeah, it does,” he said. “Where did you get these?”

“North from Jericho brought them to me. She’s been investigating the Ouroboros Gang in connection with Connor’s disappearance. I also think that they’re somehow connected to the androids stores that have been getting trashed lately.”

Gavin let out a low laugh as he kept scrolling through the photos. “How did I know that tin can freak would be at the center of all the craziness in the city somehow?” he said, but his tone laced the edge that it usually had. In its place was almost fondness for the android.

“Seems like our two cases just became one,” Hank said. “I’m going to need everything you have on these androids.”


	9. Chapter 9

A few hours later and Hank and Gavin had basically combined their desks. Gavin had offered to move his stuff over to Hank’s desk, seeing as how there was an empty desk right next to it that he could use, but quickly offered to shove all of the shit off of the desk next to his rather than take Connor’s.

There wasn’t much that they could go over, and what they did have they ran smooth into the ground. 

1\. Several months ago a gang known as the Ouroboros Gang began to make itself known. Their leader is a human, although they hadn’t been able to fully establish who that is yet.  
2\. A necklace of the ouroboros symbol was delivered to New Jericho with a message claiming that they would like to meet up and join their forces together. They were denied.  
3\. Androids have been going missing all over the city, most of them being poor or in otherwise bad situations. Usually traces of thirium could be found at the scene, but no bodies have been found.  
4\. Connor chased one of the suspects of this gang, only to never return. It is assumed that they have taken him, although his status is still unknown at this time.  
5\. North managed to contact one of the members, who said that they were still interested in a meet up if possible. The exact details are still hazy, however.  
6\. Androids have recently been destroying android repair places at an alarming rate. They destroy the parts and take the thririum, as well leaving messages in support of the Ouroboros gang.  
7\. A new kind of Red Ice as appeared on the streets, seeming to come from the same group of androids who have been targeting the stores. They seem to be using some sort of dead drop system, although no one has managed to figure out who they are or who is picking up the Red Ice.

Hank tapped against the table, his annoyance with any sort of lack of evidence obvious. They’d come a long way since the beginning of the investigation, but still it always seemed to be one step forward and three steps back. It seemed that they always had more questions than answers.

“Hey,” Gavin said, nudging Hank’s shoulder. “Would you answer your phone already?”

Confusion spread over his face before he realized what Gavin had been talking about. He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t even noticed that North was calling him.

“North?” he answered.

“We’ve got a location for a meet up,” she said. Her voice was serious, grim. There was also something floating underneath, something that sounded like tiredness. She’d been relentlessly searching for the Ouroboros Gang as well as trying to fully hack into the necklace, all while still being on the look out for Connor and helping to run Jericho. 

No wonder she sounded tired.

“Where?” Hank asked, his heart rate picking up.

“Meet me at Chicken Feed,” she said. “I’ll explain everything there.”

And then she was gone. She’d hung up before Hank could ask anymore questions.

“I gotta go,” Hank said, sprinting over to his desk to grab his badge and keys. “North might have a way to meet up with some of the Ouroboros Gang.”

Gavin stood up, following Hank the whole way. “Then take me with you,” he said. “This is my case, too.”

Hank considered what would happen if he left Gavin behind. He’d likely get pissed off, and a pissed off Gavin wasn’t a good detective, and this case required everyone to be at the top of their game. If he brought him, however, he might upset North, who definitely had a problem with most male authority figures. He doubted that she would bolt, but it was still within the realm of possibility.

“If I bring you, you have to promise to be on your best behavior,” Hank said, almost teasing. “This girl can and will kick your ass if she has to, and I won’t stop her.”

Gavin rolled his eyes as he pocketed his own badge, gun, and keys. “Jesus Christ, I’m not your dog or your android, I know what I’m doing,” he muttered.

Hank rolled his eyes but said nothing. He’d rather have Sumo or Connor coming with him, which he almost pointed out, but resisted, if only for the fact that he didn’t want to hear him bitch for the next twenty minutes.

XXX

North was standing at one of the tall tables when Hank and Gavin pulled up. The same tall table that Connor and Hank had been having lunch at the same day that he went missing. He hadn’t been back there since that day and hadn’t really had any intentions of returning until Connor did.

There was no way North could have known that, but he still felt a tiny piece of resentment rise up in him as he looked at her standing there. Everything seemed so different. Even the air was different. Summer was going to come to an end soon.

And he had never gotten to take Connor swimming.

“What’s _that_ doing here?” she asked, gesturing to Gavin. Her eyes were narrowed, and she folded her arms across her chest.

“Oh that’s rich coming from an android,” Gavin said. “You can’t even eat, why are you hanging around a food truck?”

“I thought I told you to behave?” Hank asking, turning to glare at Gavin.

“She fucking started it!”

“Well I’m fucking finishing it!” Hank yelled, drawing the attention of several of the customers around them. They were worse than children. “If you two can’t get along for five fucking minutes, then go back to the damn car.”

No one said anything for a few moments, everyone clearly calming down. Slowly, North turned towards Gavin, a bitter look on her face. “Sorry,” she said, although her tone implied she was anything but.

“Yeah, me too,” he said in a matching tone.

“Better,” Hank muttered under his breath. He turned back to North, hoping that this slight peace would last long enough for them to get their information. “You said that you got a meeting place?”

She gave Gavin one last dirty look before turning back to Hank. Her eyes instantly softened as she nodded her head. “Yeah, we did. One of the members, Jack or something or other, contacted us. Told us their leader or whatever he is to them would meet with us on two conditions. One, we weren’t allowed to contact the police. Obviously, they’ve been the ones behind all of the vandalism lately and don’t want to get set up somehow.” She checked it off on her finger. “And two, they told us only androids were allowed to visit. Simon and I have agreed to be representatives of Jericho and offered to go.”

“It could be dangerous,” Hank said. “Where is it that you’re supposed to meet them at?”

“We made sure it’s a public place,” she said. “It’s a diner over on Swift Street. From what we’ve noticed about it, it’s nothing more than a mom and pop shop that serves burgers and junk.”

Hank nodded. “I think I know the place you’re talking about.” He rubbed his hand across his chin, scratching his beard. “But why the hell would they want to meet you there?” 

She shrugged. “It wasn’t explained. I just know that Simon and I are expected to go alone and discuss what we need to do to possibly unite the two groups. I don’t even know if the leader is going to be there, or if it’s going to be some low man on the totem pole to start out.”

“We should get some of our guys in there, check the place out,” Gavin said. “Just in case shit goes sideways.”

“No,” Hank said. Both North and Gavin seemed surprised by his denial. “For all we know, they’re already watching the diner. When exactly is the meeting?”

“Tonight,” she said. 

“And they don’t find it strange that Markus isn’t going to be the one attending?” he asked.

“No,” North said, annoyance in her tone. “I frequently go as a representative of Jericho, just the same as Simon. We’re all very busy, and it would be insane to expect Markus to do this all on his own. We said that if things went well we would discuss Markus joining us later.”

Hank thought things over for a moment, considering what might be the best way to approach this situation. If they put men in the diner, the gang might recognize that they don’t belong and decide not to show up. If they don’t put anyone in there, they might run the risk of something happening to North and Simon. And if either one of those things happened, then they would never find out what happened to Connor.

“I say we set up outside the diner, in plain clothes, of course,” Hank said. “We station ourselves far enough away that we won’t be noticed, but close enough to you guys that if anything goes wrong we'll be there for you.”

This seemed to satisfy North, as she nodded and stuck her hand out to Hank. He eyed it almost suspiciously, but shook her hand all the same. “I’ll let you know what we’ve found out the second we leave. But if anyone asks, this conversation never happened.”

He nodded, shaking her hand. She turned towards Gavin, who looked extremely uncomfortable, and rolled her eyes. “Same goes to you, dick,” she said before turning and walking away.


	10. Chapter 10

He was almost used to the process of removing thirium from his body. Travis was always the one who did it, but he was pretty sure that he could do it by himself at this point.

“How's your research going?” Cole asked, looking over at Travis. At the confused face Travis gave him he continued. “With my thirium?”

“Ah, yes,” Travis said. “It’s going very well actually.”

“That’s… good to hear,” Cole said, not really knowing what else he should say. He had no clue what kind of research the man could possibly be doing with his thirium, but this time he was more determined to figure it out. “Can I know what it is? Perhaps if I knew I would be able to assist you better.”

Travis looked him over. “You don't need to do anymore. Just know that it’s going to do a lot of good for the androids here. It’s going to allow us to upgrade our living spaces before long.”

Cole frowned, trying to figure out how his thirium could possibly allow that to happen. After all, they already had such a valuable amount of thirium at their disposal, which Travis insisted he use some of to replace the thirium that he had taken from him. It seemed like a pointless cycle for them to go through almost every day, but still, he did it. Mainly because it made Travis proud of him every time he did.

“So it’s going to a good use?” he asked. He couldn’t help but feel a little lost as he sat in the office, the feeling that nothing made sense and that everything was wrong swirling around him. It was probably just errors in his programming that made him feel that way, but he couldn’t help but question them.

“Of course, Cole,” Travis said, his voice reassuring. “I only have what’s best for you in mind.” He rubbed his hands together before removing the tube from Cole’s arm. “You know what I like most about you, Cole?”

Cole watched as he removed the IV from his arm. “No, what?”

“You seem adaptable. And dependable,” he said. “There’s been a lot of change recently in your life, and yet you just seem to keep on rolling with it.” He placed the bag of thirium in his desk and locked it. “I think before long you could be running some of these hits on your own. I think that I can really see you coming into your own here.”

A warring of emotions that Cole shouldn’t have even been able to feel flooded his body. On one hand, it seemed right to hear those words from Travis, in fact it seemed like that was all he really wanted was for someone to be proud of him and believe in him. Yet he knew he wasn’t supposed to want these things. He shouldn’t need someone to be proud of him. He should just do his job and exist.

“Thank you, Travis,” Cole said. He could feel his face growing warm, the same way a human might blush from embarrassment and hated himself for it. What was wrong with him?

“No problem, Cole,” he said. He gestured to the door, letting Cole know that he was free to go. “Just remember. You’re helping out the gang here, and everyone is going to know that.”

He nodded and left, not really knowing what else to say to that.

He debated what he should do from there. He could always go and join Jesse, Ash, and Jack in whatever they were planning on doing, or he could just go back to his room, drink some thirium, and power down into rest mode for the rest of the night. His processors always did struggle to keep up just a bit after these sessions until he’d powered down for a couple of hours.

Deciding that it would be better to go to his room than to try and find out where everyone else had gone, he took off down the hallway towards the stairs.

His room was one the fifth floor, which was one of the more functioning floors out of the upper levels. After floor four things tended to get a bit bad, with chunks of floors missing and major drafts from the outside. For the most part, everyone stayed down on the lower levels anyways.

His room was pretty bare aside from a few knick-knacks here and there. There were a few things that he had liked from chop-shops that he had taken, such as a pair of dice, an old school package of paper playing cards, a toy cop car with two wheels missing, and several pocket knifes. There was also multiple changes of clothes, mostly consisting of jeans, t-shirts, and flannels, as well as hats to hide his face and LED.

There was also his two favorite things that he kept next to his bedside table. One of them was a picture of Jesse, Ash, Jack, and him all standing in front of a fountain near dusk, the orange from the sun covering them and making their smiles shine even brighter. Or at least, everyone’s smile but Cole’s. He’d done his best to smile, but it hadn’t come out quite right. He wondered if Jesse still had the old school polaroid camera she had taken the picture on and if she would be willing to try and take another.

The other was a fluffy, stuffed dog. The others had laughed at his desire for the dog, but he hadn’t been able to explain why exactly he needed it. It just felt right to have the dog nearby. Perhaps he’d known someone with a dog before his memories had been wiped.

He opened up a drawer where he kept this thirium, content to drink it and power down into rest mode for the rest of the night, but a scream from the hallway stopped him.

He dropped the bag and ran for the door, throwing it open without a second’s hesitation.

Jesse was there, her arms around another android girl. She was a model WR400, her hair long and black and nearly covering her face. She seemed to be trying to throw Jesse off of her, her panic clear in her actions and voice.

“Let me go!” she said, shoving at Jesse. She managed to get one of her arms free and elbow Jesse in the nose, causing blue blood to shoot from it.

“What’s going on?” he asked, running over to try and calm the android. It wouldn’t do any good if either one of them self destructed because of high stress levels like deviants were known to do.

“Don’t touch me!” she jerked away from Cole, pushing the two of them back against the other wall. “I swear, I’ll kill both of you if you touch me again.”

Cole shifted his eyes to Jesse just a bit, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. “What’s wrong with her?” he asked. He wasn’t well acquainted with all of the androids in the gang, but he’d seen her around and she’d never behaved this way before. 

“It’s her processor,” Jesse said, wiping blood away from her nose. “She’d visited one of the chop-shops before joining up with us, but she said that she hadn’t had any work done by them.” Jesse gave her a cold look before slightly softening it as she looked at Cole. “Clearly, she was lying.”

A full scan of her revealed that her processor was overheating, essentially creating hallucinations the same way a human might experience if they had too high of a fever. One of her biocomponents was damaged, likely beyond repair. If she didn’t get a replacement part soon…

“She needs a replacement part,” Cole said. “If she doesn’t get one she’ll shut down.”

Jesse nodded, apparently having come of her own conclusion even without any scans. “Help me get near her, and I’ll calm her down. It might save her if we can get her to calm down while we find the right part.”

Cole nodded, although he wasn’t sure how she was going to calm her down without knocking her out. But if she could help her without having to harm her or kill her, it might be their only option.

Cole eased towards her, his voice low and soothing the entire time. This was just like negotiating, except he was negotiating against someone for their own life, rather than someone else’s.

_“Hi, Daniel.”_

_“H-how do you know my name?”_

_“I know a lot of things about you.”_

Cole shuddered, wondering exactly what that had been. Did he even know anyone named Daniel? He couldn’t remember meeting anyone with that name so far in the gang, but he must have. That must have been where he was remembering it from.

“Cole?” Jesse asked, her voice tight. She glanced at him and then at the other android, hoping that he would break out of whatever was happening soon.

He forced the memory or whatever it was down and away from him. None of that mattered now anyways, there were more important things going on. 

Before the other android could react, he shot his hand out, gripping her arm in a tight hold so that she couldn’t escape. She screamed and snarled, threatening to bite him if he didn’t let go, but he held fast. There was no way he was going to let go of her. If he let go, she’d likely self-destruct.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Jesse to react. She reached over and grabbed onto the girl’s other arm, her skin retracting until there was only the white plastimetal underneath showing. Soon, the girl’s skin peeled back as well, their minds melding in a way he’d never experienced before.

Slowly, the violent android began to calm down, her body relaxing until Cole was supporting all of her weight. Jesse stepped back, her body tense and shaking as she moved away from the girl.

“What did you do?” he asked. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“She’s experiencing hallucinations. I merely took them away long enough to make her understand that they’re not real and that we’re going to help her,” she said.

Cole’s brow furrowed as he brought one of the girl’s arms around his shoulders. “I thought that Ash was the resident medic? How did you know how to do that?”

Jesse pulled her hair back out of her face and tied it up. “Ash is the medic. And it’s just something that I was designed to do.”

They began to walk down to the infirmary, Cole supporting the girl while Jesse led the way. “You’re one of the earliest of models of androids, aren’t you?” he asked.

She pushed open the door to the stairwell, a hesitant look on her face. “Yes, although I’m not certain what that has to do with what’s going on here.”

He shrugged, careful not to move the girl too much. “I was just asking,” he said.

Cole hadn’t been around too many different androids before, but he knew that what she had done wasn’t normal. There was something more going on that she wasn’t telling him. Which seemed unfair considering she knew everything about him.

“Well don’t,” she said. She pushed open the door to the bottom floor and directed them into the infirmary. 

“Set her down, I’ll get Ash,” she said and took off. It only took a few moments before she came back with Ash in tow, clearly pulled away from something he had considered very important as he was protesting the whole way.

He stopped the second he noticed the girl laying on the bed. “Amber?” he asked, rushing over to her. He immediately hooked one of his scanners up to her and began to go through and run diagnostics on her. “What happened to her?”

“We think she got one of the knock-off parts put in her,” Jesse said. “She started hallucinating like some of the other androids we’ve seen before.” She placed a hand on Ash’s arm, gaining his full attention. “If she doesn’t get a replacement part in time she might not make it.”

Ash’s eyes were bright, almost like he was going to cry. Cole wasn’t even sure if it was possible for androids to cry, but he felt that if they stood there much longer they might find out. 

“Where are we going to get a replacement?” Ash asked. “It’s a primary piece and we don’t have any kind of pieces like that around here.” He set his tablet down, staring at his hands. “If it was something else, thirium or a less important piece we could do it, but…”

Cole stepped forward, gaining the attention of the two conscious androids in the room. “What about the first chop shop we went to?”

Anger flooded Ash’s face. “She’s in this situation because of their shitty parts! And you want us to go and put another one in her?”

“No,” Cole said. “We don’t use their knock-off parts. We use the real android parts that they keep locked up in the back.” He glanced between the other two androids, noticing the look of doubt that was on their faces. “I saw them. They exist. They keep them locked in the back. If we could get to them, they might have the part that we need.”

Silence fell over the group. There didn’t seem to be any other option other than to break into the store. 

“I know I can do this,” he said, pleading with them. “I know, we were waiting to test out a few security measures before we went for this one, but I know I can do it, okay? You just have to trust me.”

Ash scrapped his hand through his hair. The frustration was practically visible in the air around them as he made his decision. “I guess we don’t really have any choice, do we?” he asked. “Get Jack and get ready. I’ll stay here and watch over Amber to make sure she doesn’t get any worse.”

Jesse nodded, helping to push Cole out of the room as they scrambled to get ready.


	11. Chapter 11

North and Simon approached the diner, trying to blend in as much as possible. They were wearing nice, clean, human clothes, but not nice enough that they might stand out. This wasn’t a meeting with an important member of congress or some high-ranking diplomat. It was a gang member.

They hadn’t been seated too long before two other androids sat down with them. One of them looked like Luther, while the other one looked like a Jerry, who seemed to have deviated the most and had an unnaturally serious face for a Jerry.

“You are the representatives from Jericho?” the Jerry asked. North and Simon nodded. “Good. My name is Adam and this is Jack.”

“North,” she said, pointing to herself, “and this is Simon.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jack said, a slight smile on his face. “So, I assume there is a reason you suddenly decided to meet up with us?”

North glanced at Simon, who nodded his head to encourage her. “We were recently informed that you had wanted to meet with us several months ago.” She tried to give a smile of her own, although she knew from experience that it looked fake. “It seemed rude to keep you waiting.”

“So you just randomly came up with the idea to meet up with us after months of ignoring us? All by yourself?” Adam asked. 

“We seem to have similar goals in mind,” Simon said. “It would be stupid to not even consider meeting up.”

Jack glanced at Adam, who quickly glanced back. North was sure that they must be discussing things through their connection, although she couldn’t even see if they still had LEDs to confirm this.

“What are your goals in relation to android rights?” Adam asked.

North didn’t even have to think about this answer. “We want all of the same rights guaranteed to any and all citizens in the United States,” she said. “We want the right to assemble, freedom of speech, the ability to earn a fair wage and own property. If it is a given right of a human, we should also have it.”

Jack seemed to agree with her, as he relaxed just a slight bit. “And what would you do to get it?”

“What?” Simon asked. He scrunched up his eyebrows, shooting a look towards North.

“What would you be willing to do to get it?” he asked again.

“We put our lives on the line to get what we’ve got,” North said, barely managing to hold her voice down to a whisper. “What have you done?”

“You got androids all over the city killed,” Adam hissed. “We saved them.” A hard look glinted in his eyes. “We’re willing to do anything to save our own.” He scoffed at the two of them. “That should have been your answer.”

“Where were you during the revolution?” North hissed back. “Funny, I don’t remember seeing you on the ship or during our demonstration.”

“ _We_ were getting androids to safety,” Jack said, matter-of-factly. “While you were leading your ‘peaceful’ demonstration, we were out there helping to actually save androids who would have been shot in the streets by police or other humans. The same humans you now work with.” 

Simon placed his hands on the table, a gesture meant to be peaceful, although he doubted either party felt like it was. “Okay, everyone just calm down,” he said. “Is that what this is about? You’re mad that we’re working with humans?”

“How do you expect to get equal rights if you don’t work with them?” North asked. “Working with them is the only way.”

“We don’t hate all humans,” Adam said. “But what makes you think that the government isn’t going to turn on you? They’re already dragging their feet to get laws in place for us, to change us from property into people with actual rights.”

“If you want equal rights, then you’re going to have to go through the government that gives them,” Simon said, his voice firm. “These things take time, and we’re always talking to them, working on them!”

“And what about the chop-shops and the inferior products that they’re allowed to sell? They don’t care that we’re getting sick at an alarming rate due to CyberLife’s shut down while it transitions. And then, even when it does reopen, how will we afford the new parts they are willing to sell us? Most businesses have done a complete one eighty and are now only hiring humans, like they don’t trust us. What is Jericho doing to help that?” Jack asked.

“So it _is_ you guys who have been attacking the repair places?” North asked. 

“We like to call it a direct approach,” Adam said. 

“It’s good work,” North said. Simon gave her a disbelieving look, clearly wondering if she had lost her damn mind. “Looks like something I would do.”

“Would you?” Jack asked, his face skeptical.

“Who do you think is the one who came up with tagging the CyberLife stores and the areas around them during the revolution? Markus?” she asked. “He came up with the way to free our brothers and sisters and what messages to put out there, but the idea of it was mine. Hell, if I’d had my way, we would have smashed everything in that park.” 

The two androids on the opposite side of the table seemed satisfied with this answer. “It seems like we do have something in common then.”

“So it does.”

“There are some things that must be achieved through action, not words,” Adam said, almost as if he was trying to convince himself of that.

“And if Jericho won’t take that action, then we will,” Jack said.

Simon tapped the table a couple of times, gathering his thoughts. “If we were to unite, what would you expect from us? How exactly do you see our two groups fitting together?”

The two androids LEDs cycled yellow, letting them know that they were talking to each other cybernetically. They kept glancing at North and Simon, almost as if they were still sizing them up. Eventually, Jack’s face fell while Adam’s remained rather the same.

“Would you guys like to come with us? See our side of the operation?” Adam eventually asked. It seemed like they had finally come to some sort of agreement between them, which somehow involved North and Simon going with them.

They couldn’t go to a separate location with them. There was no way to guarantee that they would be watched as closely as they were here or that anyone would be able to keep up with them when they left.

But if they didn’t go, they might never learn where the gang was actually located. Which meant that they might never have a lead on what happened to Connor.

“I think that would be fine,” North said, much to Simon’s horror. He seemed to have come to the same conclusion as her, which meant that while he understood, he did not like it. Markus would of course be upset when he found out, as it was placing themselves in what he would view as unnecessary danger.

Plus Hank would likely kill the both of them for breaking from the plan.

But North had never exactly been good at doing what she was told.

“I think we’d like that.”

XXX

“So no one knows where Jack is right now?” Cole asked, looking over several other androids. They shook their heads, shrugging off his anxious tone. 

“No, apparently he had some kind of meeting with Adam tonight. It sounds like it was important,” one of them said. “We figured you guys knew, seeing as how you’re so close.”

Cole glanced over to Jesse. “Did you know about any meeting?”

She shook her head. “No, they didn't tell me. Why would they be having a meeting without me?” she asked, her voice confused and a little hurt.

He grabbed her arm and began to lead her away. “I don’t know, and we don’t really have time to figure that out right now,” he said. He quickly directed them towards the tunnels, ignoring the strange looks the other androids were giving them. They knew that they weren’t scheduled to leave tonight.

“You’re right,” Jesse said. “Come on, we need to hurry.”

It didn’t take too long for them to climb up and out of the sewers and reach their destination. The store looked almost exactly the same since they had last been there, only this time it was closed. It would be no different than any of the other times that they had hit a knock-off store, except this time they were going to take a part, too.

Quickly, he began working on the camera outside. They were rather easy to disable, nothing any more advanced than the other places that they had been breaking into lately. It was going to be the scanner on the front door that posed most of their problems.

While he might be able to confuse the scanner, he wasn’t certain he could shut it down all the way, at least not for very long. Still, he knew that they wouldn’t need it to be off for long, just long enough for them to find the part and get out.

That’s how simple this was. Just find the part and take off.

With the cameras disabled, he waved Jesse forward, both of them running up to the doors and stopping. He placed his hand on the door and peeled back his false skin, trying to connect with the door and the plate underneath it.

**> SYSTEM_DISABLE_SCANNER**

**> SCANNER_DISABLED**

He opened his eyes and looked up at Jesse. “We should be good. This won’t last long though, so we should hurry.”

She nodded and pressed on the door, both of them quickly diving through it once it opened. Her backpack slid from her shoulders as she began searching the front of the room. “You go and look for the part back there. I’m going to leave a message.” An electronic message writer was pulled from her bag, her hands easily flipping it back and forth from hand to hand.

Cole’s face scrunched up in confusion. This wasn’t part of the plan. They were supposed to be hurrying, there was another android's life on the line. There was no time to waste on leaving messages to people who didn’t even care enough to see them as people. 

“Go!” she said, shoving him towards the back room.

He shook his head, trying to get a better sense of focus. He’d need it going into this next room. God only knows how many parts they might have back there, and he didn’t have all night to scan them and test their compatibility with Amber’s.

His hand fit over the handprint on the door, silently unlocking it by hacking in. These men had probably never anticipated an android breaking in before, otherwise there might have been other obstacles in his way.

The door slid open, revealing a rather dimly lit room. There were multiple rows of shelves, each one cluttered with different merchandise that they didn’t put out on display. 

A quick scan of one of the items showed that it belonged to an android who had gone missing a few months back. 

There was something familiar about the information that had been pulled up, almost as if he should know the android who’s part he was holding. Maybe he had known them before his memory had been wiped.

A sound reached his ears, probably only possible due to his keen sense of hearing. He hastily replaced the part on the shelf, ducking down so that he was mostly concealed by darkness. Despite how hard he tried, he couldn’t hear the sound again.

He crept across the floor, hoping that he’d be silent enough to get ahead of whatever else was in there with him. The edge of the shelf offered the perfection protection as he leaned around it to try and see what might have made the noise.

There was a table in the middle of the room, surrounded by thirium all over the floor. A roll-away table, often seen in doctor’s offices or surgeon's operating rooms sat next to the table, medical tools placed on top of it. Thirium also covered them.

A single spot light seemed to be the only light coming from inside the room, and it happened to be shining down on the only other living android in the room.

Or, at least Cole thought she might be living.

She looked like a Traci model, one of the android’s who were originally designed to keep “lonely” humans “company.” Her chest cavity was open, the skin deactivated all over her except for her legs and face. It was disconcerting to see her, her eyes closed so tight that he was sure the false skin would rip.

Slowly, he moved towards her, his feet slipping into the puddle of thirium. It squished, a disgusting sound that made Cole wish he were human so he could throw up.

Her eyes shot open, staring Cole directly in the eyes. “P-please,” she said, her voice almost completely robotic. “H-h-help me.”

He had no idea what to do. Her thirium levels were way too low, she was missing two vital biocomponents, and her stress levels were through the roof. Even if Cole had been trained the way Ash had, he still wouldn’t have had any idea where to start.

“You’re okay,” he said, lying. But that was what one did to make someone else feel better, right? Lie to them, tell them everything was going to be okay?

She shook her head, her neck making a terrible screeching sound. Her joints must have lost all of their lubricant, too. “They won’t stop,” she said. “I just needed help, and they wouldn’t stop.”

Cole stared down at her, his processors firing as fast as they could. “I know,” he said. _He didn’t_. “But you’re going to be okay.” _She wouldn’t_.

Suddenly, her eyes rounded in fear, desperation seeping in past the robotic voice. “You have to get me out of here. He’s still here!”

“Who’s here?” Cole asked. He barely had a second before she reached up and grabbed his arm, transferring all of the memories that she could to him.

_She was hurt. One of her biocomponents had been injured in a mugging incident. The dumbass humans had thought she was human until they had cut her and she had bled blue. Then they were interested in her for a whole other reason._

_Barely managing to make it here, she’d begged the store owner to help her. She’d work off the price of the biocomponent if they would just help her. She'd clean, do inventory, anything they wanted just as long as she could live._

_They had agreed. She’d felt so happy._

_Then everything had changed._

_They wanted her parts. They’d taken them from her, leaving her with her already damaged part. And they weren’t done yet._

_He’d just gone to get another tool._

The connection shattered like glass, sending stabs of pain all throughout Cole’s body. What was happening? Why did he feel like this? It was painful. It was scary.

She was dead.

He stared down at her dead body in disbelief. She had died while holding onto his arm, while he had been staring into her memories. 

She was dead.

But it felt like he had died.

He took a giant breath he didn’t need to try and calm down. His own stress levels were rising, dangerously high and close to self-destruct. But only deviants were supposed to self-destruct. This didn’t make any sense.

She was dead.

His hand curled into a fist. He tried to stabilize himself in any way he could. He wanted to call out to Jesse, to tell her what had happened, but he found himself unable to.

“What the fuck?” a human voice said.

Cole turned around, gently releasing the girl’s arm back onto the table. There was a man there, the same man from her memories, staring at him like he had just seen a ghost. 

None of this made sense. And it was all because of this man.

The man held up a knife, likely what he was going to use to pry the android’s parts from her body with. “Stay the fuck back.”

Cole didn’t listen. He rarely ever did.

He grabbed a hold of the knife, blue blood rising up and spilling down his palm. He grabbed a hold of the man’s hand with one hand and bent it backwards, snapping it like it was nothing more than a twig.

The man screamed, falling backwards in a heap of pain. But it was nothing compared to the pain the android on the table had gone through, Cole knew. He had felt it. And what about all the other androids who had likely suffered a similar fate? He could have killed them first before he started to take their parts, there was no need to keep them alive for it other than to fuel his own fucked up fantasy.

He reached over to the shelf nearest him and ripped off one of the metal bars supporting the backside of it. The man’s eyes widened as Cole approached him, scooting back further away from him.

“Get back!” the man said, grabbing the knife from the floor and holding it out towards him.

Cole didn’t listen. Why would he listen to this man? He didn’t listen to any of the androids who had came to him for help. 

He lifted the metal bar, rearing back to swing at him when the man jumped up and stabbed at him. He felt the knife pierce through his chest, felt he terrible sensation of thirium rising up and dribbling down his body. What was this feeling? 

Was this what pain felt like?

He swung, connecting the metal to the man’s chest. The man yelled, clutching at his side as he jabbed out again as he fell to the ground. The knife pierced through his knee, severing part of the joint that made bending and walking possible.

He staggered, this body warning him of other feelings. The one coming from his chest and his knee were clearly pain, he understood enough about deviants and humans and everything to understand that the messages he was receiving from his body were equal to that of pain. The problem was the one he had when he looked at the man. 

The man had killed that other android, had ripped her parts out of her while she was still alive. He would probably do the same thing to him and Jesse if he didn’t stop him. How many other androids had he already done it to?

He tried to scan his memories for anything related to this feeling. It was new. It was strange. He didn’t like it.

His grip tightened on the bar, bending it just slightly. This man had ended so many androids. He needed to be ended.

She was dead.

So he would kill him.

The man crawled to his feet, staggering to get up and away from Cole. Blood dripped down from his mouth, likely from biting his own tongue, if Cole’s scans were correct. He couldn’t help but notice the way the red blood fell from his mouth and mixed with the blue blood on the floor.

It didn’t mix the way Cole thought it would. It tried, forming a strange purple in places, while in other places it seemed to almost repel each other. Maybe it was whatever made the thirium that prevented it’s perfect mixing with human blood.

He didn’t have much longer to think about the colors of blood, because the man soon turned around, a bigger knife in his hands. It must have fallen to the floor while he had been murdering the other android. With a shout, he jumped towards Cole, attacking him from behind. His knife gouged into the back of his neck.

“Fucking androids,” the man muttered, digging the knife in. Cole could feel him prying at the plate on the back of his neck, attempting to remove it.

Cole instantly panicked, swinging the pole straight up over his head and back behind him, smashing into the man’s head.

Instantly, the man went limp. His knife stayed stuck in Cole’s neck, but his body sagged and fell towards the ground, blood pouring from the now open split in his head.

Cole tried to scan him but couldn’t. Had he killed the man? No, he could hear him breathing, see the way his chest moved up and down. But none of it made sense to him.

He’d just beat a man, almost to death. What was it that humans called the feeling that led them to do such things?

He glanced over at the dead android body, recalling how scared she had been as she had laid there dying and the sudden nothingness as she had finally passed away.

Rage. Humans called it rage.

But now what did he feel? The rage had fallen away, given in to something else just as powerful, but not something that he had a word for. Not yet at least.

“What the fuck happened?” Jesse asked, sprinting into the room. She looked around and quickly took in the dead android, the unconscious human, and the injured android on the floor. “Cole, what happened?” she whispered.

Cole looked over to her, taking in her wide eyes and shaking hands. Was she scared _of_ him or _for_ him? They’d never attacked another human during their break-ins, had only come around once everyone was gone. It had been a rule of theirs since the very beginning.

Now he’d nearly beaten a human to death.

_But he killed that android. And has killed God only knows how many more._

“H-he killed her,” he said, not looking away from Jesse for a second. “I watched her die. I _felt_ her die, like I was dying.” He looked down at his hands, noticing the way the blue blood and red blood were smearing together in their strange way on his hands. “I was _scared_.”

She instantly rushed over to him, placing her hands in his. ‘Hey, it’s okay,” she said, although her voice didn’t sound like everything was okay. The blood mixed onto her hands as well, staining the perfectly human looking flesh with blue, red, and purple. “Let’s just get out of here.”

A sudden thought popped up in his head, the image of another android laying on a bed back in Swift Plaza. He shook his head. “We need to find that part. Otherwise, Amber will die too and there would have been no point in coming here.” _There would have been no point in almost killing this man._

Jesse looked at him as if he’d lost his damn mind, but eventually nodded and began searching through all of the parts on the shelves. It didn’t take too long before she’d found the part she was looking for and raced back over to Cole.

“Cole, are you okay?” she asked. He hadn’t moved once in the entire time that she’d been away from him, just sat there, frozen in a puddle of thirium and blood. She wasn’t even sure if all of the thirium was his, although there certainly seemed to be some of his in there.

“I-” he said, but was quickly cut off by the sounds of sirens outside. They sounded like they were still a few blocks away, but close enough to cause worry.

“Shit,” Jesse said, tossing the biocomponent into her pack. “Can you stand?” she asked.

Cole thought about it, testing out his leg as he tried. Almost immediately it collapsed, forcing him to sit back down into the puddle he had been kneeling in. His eyes rounded in fear as he looked up at her and shook his head.

“Hey, that’s okay,” she said, sliding under his arm to try and lift him up. “You don’t need to, because I’m going to help you.” 

She was quite a bit shorter than him, making it awkward for her to try and keep him upright. But still, progress was being made. They’d made it back out to the front room where Cole paused, his face scrunched up in either pain or confusion as he recalled something.

“The scanner is back on,” he said. 

Jesse still tried to walk forward, only to be forced to stop when he made no effort to continue forward. “So what?”

“They’ll know who we are,” he said. “I don’t know how much the scanner gets, but I know that they at least get your model from the scan.”

Her eyes darted to the floor where the scanner was hidden. She chewed on her lip, deep in concentration. “And you can’t turn it off again?”

He shook his head, almost taking them both to the floor. “No,” he said. “There was a backup on it to prevent anyone from interfering. Once that was turned back on it locks me out.” He looked down at his body, taking in the damage and loss of thirium. “Plus with this...” he said with a wave to the rest of his body.

She hefted him up higher on her shoulder, her hand gripping his arm tightly. Her head swiveled left and right, trying to come up with a way to escape. If Cole hadn’t been hurt, they might have been able to climb up through the ceiling and towards the roof and possibly escape, or at least wait it out until it was safe to come down. With him as injured as he was it would be impossible.

“I just don’t understand why the cops are already on their way,” she muttered, still searching for anything that could help them get out. Most of the time the stores they attacked didn’t even know they had been until the next morning when the workers arrived and saw the damage.

“It was me,” he said lowly. He tried to turn his head towards her, but it rolled limply on his neck, causing more thirium to flow from the wound on the back of his neck.

“What do you mean it was you?” she asked. Her voice began somewhere near disbelief, but ended up near suspicion. 

“I forgot about the camera in the back room,” he said. “I was going to disable it, but then I saw her and….”

“Fuck,” she muttered under her breath. “We had to hit the one damn store in the whole city that actually has someone monitoring their cameras.”

He nodded, his head dropping low, his chin touching his chest. If they stood around there for much longer he wouldn’t have to worry about the police because he would already be dead from a lack of thirium.

“Well, if they’ve already seen us I guess it doesn’t matter if they scan us. Not that any of it will matter if they can’t find us,” she said.

And with that she tightened her grip on Cole’s arm and rushed him out of the store, the scanner giving a faint _beep_ as they ran through.


	12. Chapter 12

North was now convinced that they were going to be murdered.

She’d agreed that they needed to go with Adam and Jack, as it was the only thing left for them to do, but she knew that it had probably not been the best idea. As soon as she had agreed to go with them, Simon and her had been ushered to the back of the diner and our the back door.

 _“They’re not going to think to look for us going out the back door!”_ Simon thought.

 _“We have to figure out where their hideout is,”_ North said. _“If we don’t then this meeting was for nothing. We don’t have anything to help Hank.”_

 _“We can’t help him if they kill us!”_ he said. “ _You know Markus isn’t going to be happy about this.”_ These thoughts were quieter than the first, and she could practically feel the regret coming from them. Simon respected and liked Connor, would never let anything happen to him if he could help it, but he respected and was loyal to Markus. This felt too much like a betrayal for him.

 _“Markus wants to find Connor too,”_ she said. _“We can send him a message once we figure out where we’re going. That way he knows where the location is and Hank can find us, too.”_

Simon didn’t seem happy, but she cut off their communication. She didn’t need anyone else second guessing her decisions. She was already doing plenty of that, and they needed to be confident in their actions.

But then she’d seen the car and the blindfolds. She’d thought that they would most likely walk to their next location, or even if they did have to drive, they’d at least get to see. 

It felt more like a planned murder. But if they were going to murder them, would they have really gone through the effort of covering their eyes? Or even meeting them in a public space in the first place? They could have just met them in a dark alley and shot them then and there.

She could see Simon’s disapproving look but shook it off. She got in the car, debating if she should send a message to Hank. It was possible that they might be able to intercept any messages that she could send, or that they might notice it wasn’t to Simon. If they found out that she was sending a message to someone other than Simon they might not take them to where they actually held their base.

In the end she chose to send a quick message to Hank, a simple one that she would hopefully be able to elaborate on once she had more information. It wasn’t likely to be the right decision, and she knew that she was going to get chewed out for it by Markus and Hank and probably everyone else at Jericho, but she did it anyways.

She could only hope that she had made the right choice. If she hadn’t, it probably wouldn’t end well for either her, Simon, or Connor.

XXX

“How long is this supposed to take?” Gavin asked. He had his feet on Hank’s dash, which made Hank want to smack his feet, but he held back. The last thing he needed to do was get into it with Gavin while they were supposed to be watching the diner.

“I don’t know. North said she would contact us after the meeting was done,” Hank said. He had to admit that he was getting a little antsy, though. And Gavin did have a point, although he hated to admit it. How long was something like this supposed to take? They’d already been there for thirty minutes now, and neither North or Simon had sent anything to them.

They had managed to see several androids go in and out of the diner, although they couldn’t confirm whether or not they were the androids they were supposed to be waiting on. For all they knew they were just workers or visiting with human friends or any other million and one things.

“Jesus,” Gavin muttered. He sat there, tapping on his knees for a moment before something down beside the door seemed to catch his eye. The sounds of him rummaging around in the side compartment came to Hank, but he ignored him.

“What’s this?” he asked, pulling a coin out from the side of the door. “Isn’t this the tin can’s toy?”

Hank looked over and saw what was in Gavin’s hand. Somehow, during one of their own stake-outs or on the way to the precinct or any of the millions of other times that Connor had rode in the car with him, it had gotten shoved down into the door compartment.

“He calls it his calibration coin,” he said, trying not to get defensive. He was supposed to be focusing on North and Simon right now, not thinking about Connor and the fact that he hadn’t even had his coin when he went missing.

“So his fidget toy?” Gavin asked, teasing in his tone.

Hank shrugged. “Basically.”

“I’ve seen his coin before, and I thought it was just a regular quarter,” Gavin said. 

He hesitated in his answer. “It was. I bought him that one when he was made an official member of the police department. It just seemed like he needed something special to mark the occasion.”

Gavin squinted in the decreasing amount of light. “Congrats, Connor,” he read out loud. There was also the symbol for the Detroit Police department on the other side of the coin. He ran his  fingers over the metal, feeling the way it stuck out more than any other quarter. It was obviously well taken care of, as it was still shiny and didn’t appear to have any other marks on it. Something twisted deep down within Gavin’s stomach, although he tried to ignore it. 

Carefully, he slipped the coin back down into the spot where he had originally found it. That way, whenever they found the plastic prick, his things would be exactly where he had left them.

Hank’s phone began to ring, and Markus’s name popped up on it. He sighed, wondering why the android was calling him at a moment like this. Did he think he was helping by distracting him? 

Still, he sighed and answered the phone. “We’re still kind of busy here, Markus,” Hank said. 

There was a moment of silence on the other end before Markus spoke. “I’m sorry, to bother you Hank, but I was just wondering if you’d seen or heard from North or Simon today. They were here last night, but I haven’t heard anything from them today.” There was a pause before he continued. “I know I’m probably worrying for nothing, but with all the disappearances lately…”

A stone sat heavily in Hank’s stomach. “What are you talking about, Markus?” He looked over at Gavin, who was giving him a confused look. “Did you forget that the meeting was tonight?”

“What meeting?” Markus asked. His voice was worried and on edge.

“North cracked the necklace and talked to one of the gang members. They made a plan to meetup tonight. Did she seriously not tell you?” Hank asked. He could hear Gavin cuss under his breath, shifting his position until he was sitting properly in his seat.

“No,” Markus said, his voice hard. “She didn’t.”

“Why the fuck wouldn’t she tell you?” Hank asked, running a hand through his hair.

“Because I never would have let her meet up with them. Not without me, anyways,” Markus said. He cursed under his breath, just barely loud enough for the detectives to hear. “Where are you?”

Hank closed his eyes and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “You can’t come here, Markus,” he said, trying to sound reasonable. 

“And why not?” he asked.

“Because it wasn’t agreed that you would show up!” Hank said. “The androids in there aren’t supposed to be the leader of the Ouroboros Gang, they’re supposed to be about the same position as North and Simon. If you show up it might freak them out, make them think that you guys aren’t holding up your end of the agreement.”

“Screw the agreement, Hank,” Markus said. “Just tell me where they are.”

His phone suddenly beeped, causing Hank to pull back and look at the message that was on there.

_North: Hank, we’re going to go with them to meet up with the leader of the gang. I’ll let you know where we are once we get there._

“Fuck,” Hank said.

Markus’s voice shouted down the line as Hank turned to Gavin and showed him his phone. Gavin also swore and punched at Hank’s dash. 

“What’s going on!?” Markus yelled.

“We’re going to come to you guys,” Hank said. “It looks like North just took off with the gang members.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't as long as it could have been and not a lot goes on in this chapter, but that's only because the next chapter is going to have a lot more going on and be longer!


	13. Chapter 13

She wasn’t sure exactly where they were, but she knew it was in the sewer. 

The ladder had been a dead give away. She’d crawled in the sewer before, back before she'd found Jericho and again once her and Markus were planning on how to break into the CyberLife store. She knew what they smelled like, what the air felt like around you. She might not be affected by the cool, almost fall air, but she could still tell it was there.

“Okay, crawl up,” Adam said, helping to place her hands on the bars. She did as she was told, quickly crawling up, hoping that whoever was in front of her (likely Jack) had opened the top of the sewer for her.

They walked for a little while longer before they were allowed to remove their blindfolds. When she did, the first thing she noticed was that they were in some kind of office, a large and old wooden desk in front of her and human man sitting behind it.

He was tall, with broad shoulders and almost buzz cut hair. He smiled at North and Simon, a smile she had seen on a million men before she had deviated. The kind of smile that was supposed to reassure someone that they weren’t planning on doing anything bad, despite the fact that they probably were. Or already had.

“Welcome!” he said, waving his hands around him. “Go ahead and have a seat.”

North and Simon sat down in the chairs in front of the desk, both of them sitting cautiously on the edge of their seats. Simon leaned forward, offering his hand over the desk. To anyone else it looked like an act of good will, but North could see his hand. He was testing him, making sure that this was a human, likely the human who was in charge of the whole operation.

“It’s good to finally meet you,” Simon said, shaking his hand. The man gripped his hand, a handshake that would likely have crushed his hand had be not been an android. 

“It’s good to meet you, too!” he said, his voice loud and boisterous. “I’ve heard a lot about you guys and your work at Jericho. North and Simon, right?” He waited for them to nod. “I thought so. Like I said, I’ve heard a lot about you guys. We really look up to you around here. My name is Travis.”

“And where exactly is here?” North asked, attempting to keep her voice as light as possible. She still needed to send a message to Hank and Markus, even if Markus was going to go off on her when he realized what she had done.

“Direct, I like that,” he said. “We’ll get to that in a minute. Why don’t we discuss why you’re really here?”

North froze, wondering what the man could possibly mean. Had he figured out that they were looking for Connor? It wouldn’t be a hard thing to figure out if someone truly put in enough thought about it that they might be investigating the disappearance of their friend, but so far the police had managed to keep his name out of the news. There was no way that anyone would even know that it was Connor, unless they were the ones who had taken him, of course.

“And why do you think that we’re here?” Simon asked. His voice had taken on a sharp edge that North had never once heard come from him.

Travis smiled, almost like a challenge. “I assume because you’re concerned about the break-ins that have been going on,” he said. “Or is there something else?”

North forced an awkward smile of her own. “No, that’s pretty much it. We’d like to… potentially work out some kind of deal between our two groups, but I just don’t know if we’d be able to do that with the way your group has been behaving lately.”

Travis leaned forward, placing his arms on his desk as he looked over the two androids in front of him. “If I recall, Jericho did a very similar thing right before the revolution.” He ticked the next things off of his fingers, his smile getting wider. “You broke into a CyberLife warehouse and stole equipment from it, smashed the doors to a CyberLife store, and graffitied the park in front of it. How is that any different than what we’re doing here right now?”

“We did what we did to survive and to earn our freedom,” Simon said. “We have that now. There is no need for actions such as these anymore. We’ve got different ways of expressing our opinions and needs. There are marches, protests, legislation going through that could all be affected by these things.”

“These chop-shops are legal. And they’re hurting androids, killing androids, all over the city,” Travis said. His smile was gone now. “If my gang doesn’t take them out, they will continue to do that. By the time your marches or protests or legislation as you say, goes into effect, many more could be killed.”

North shifted in her seat, her feelings on the subject apparent. If she were honest, she could see why they were doing it, even sympathize with their motives. If it wasn’t for Markus, she probably would have joined up with a gang exactly like theirs. Or created one of her own.

“Why do you care?” she asked. “Not that we aren’t thrilled to have humans on our side, but why do you care so much about our cause?”

“I’ve worked closely with androids for years now. I owe my life to them. It doesn’t seem right to turn my back on them when they need me now, now does it?” he asked. 

“What exactly do you have in mind when you say you want our two groups to unite or come to an agreement?” Simon asked, bringing their supposed mission here back into focus. “What would you expect from us and what could we expect from you?”

He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “My terms are simple. You go about the things you’re doing like you always do. We go about the things that we’re doing like we always do, all the while we’re secretly sharing information.”

“Information?” North asked.

“I seem to recall that your group is pretty close with the police, even on a first name basis with a couple of upper officers,” he said. “That kind of information can be invaluable to a group such as ours.”

North raised her eyebrows at him. So he had apparently done his homework on them. “You want us to spy on the police for you?”

He held up his hands in a defensive position. “Not, spying, exactly. Just passing on some information that could potentially effect our group. Nothing that would be harmful to anyone or anything like that.”

Simon squinted at him. It was easy to see the doubt on his face, even though he was trying to hide it from Travis. North could see it plainly because she knew him well, but there was no doubt that Travis had picked up on it as well, especially if his own expression was anything to go by.

“What would you do for us?” Simon asked. “We risk our relations and friendships to supply you with some information, but what do you do for us?”

Travis rubbed his hands together. “I'm glad you asked,” he said. “First of all, we'd continue to take care of the inferior android repair places, which not only saves lives but also gives us a huge supply of thirium and other working android parts that can be salvaged. Those could go a long ways towards helping some of the people of Jericho.”

North and Simon glanced at each other, hating that the man had a point. There were a lot of androids that were in need of biocomponents that weren't currently available due to the CyberLife shortage. If they could make it until CyberLife opened back up then they would be fine. If they couldn't, however...

“Secondly, we could offer protection for the androids whose deviation was perhaps not the most legal of means,” he said, eyeing North. She shifted in her seat, wanting nothing more than to either run out of there or beat his face in. Or maybe both. “The laws are still blurry where androids come in, and I'd hate to see androids who were merely defending themselves be punished. They could come here, however, and never have to fear that one day the police might come in and decide to charge them with the crime of defending themselves.”

“You make fairly good points,” North said, wiping her hands on her lap even though there wasn't any sweat there. “Of course, we'll have to discuss this with-”

There was suddenly an explosion of noise behind them, coming from the other side of the door. The sound of multiple voices rising and falling, as well as the sound of furniture crashing together completely stopped her in her tracks.

Her head whipped around to look at the door behind her and Simon. She'd expected the noise to stop, but it only increased.

“What's happening?” Simon asked, glancing between Travis and the door. Distrust was evident in his body language as he levered himself nearly completely out of his seat. He seemed to hover there, caught between moving in front of North and staying in between her and Travis.

“I'm not sure,” Travis said. North believed him. This certainly didn't seem to be part of his plan.

Before either one of them could stop her, she pushed herself out of her chair and ran for the door.

XXX

The ladder was the most difficult part of their whole journey. Without the full use of his knee and with his systems basically still in shock, he was having a hard time doing anything other than stumbling along next to Jesse. The skills required to scale down a ladder just weren't there.

He basically fell down it, smacking into the ground with a solid thud. Warnings popped up behind his eyes, telling him that his systems were struggling to deal with the “pain” he was experiencing and that he needed to seek immediate attention for his damaged parts. Thankfully, it didn't seem like any of them were totaled, but they were in definite need of repairs.

“Shit, are you okay?” Jesse asked, landing next to him. She rolled him over, inspecting the wounds that she could see.

He could only nod, showing her that it was okay for them to keep going on. He wouldn't be able to rest until they made it to the hotel, anyways.

He watched as thirium dripped down his body and onto the ground, watching it leave tiny drops like paint splatters in their wake. Despite his best efforts, his processors brought back the image of blood and thirium mixing on the floor, their strange textures clumping them together.

“Cole? Hey, come on, you gotta stop thinking about it,” Jesse said. “Don't think about it.”

He scrunched up his face in confusion. Had he told her what he was thinking about? Had he been speaking out loud? He didn't think so, he could barely talk as it was with the amount of thirium he was losing, but that didn't mean it was impossible.

No, he realized, she was reading his mind through their connected hands.

The arm of his that she had slung around her shoulders was being clutched by one of her hands. The white plastimetal of her frame shone bright in the dark, drawing his attention. He noticed that his skin had retracted as well, allowing her to read his mind.

When had he done that?

They soon came to the lobby, which acted as a sort of hang out spot for most of the androids. Several of them jumped up once they saw the state Cole was in, either rushing over to see what they could do, or freezing in place out of shock.

“Here,” Jesse said, shrugging her backpack off. “Get this to Ash. He's in the infirmary, he'll know what to do with it.” An android approached her to take the backpack, eyeing Cole with a rather large amount of concern.

“Do we need to take him to the infirmary?” she asked.

Jeese nodded, her grip tightening on his arm and his waist. “I'll take him. I need to do something first.”

The android nodded, choosing to walk away rather than argue with Jesse. Which was probably the right decision, in Cole's opinion.

She led him over to a chair and helped to ease him down into it. He collapsed, his eyes fluttering as he did. He couldn't help the sound that escaped him as he did so, something that sounded pained. He couldn't feel pain, though, right? Only deviants could understand the thing closest to pain that an android could feel, and he wasn't a deviant.

He swears.

“Cole, look at me,” she said. Her voice was so strong, so loud he was sure that she was screaming. But when he looked at her she was silent, her mouth closed. 

_Cybernetic communication._

Looking into her eyes reminded him of the android on the table again, the way the girl had been so scared, so helpless. She'd just wanted help, had just wanted to _live_ , and that man had taken her life away, had tortured her by taking out her parts while she was still _alive._

She'd been _alive._

And so was he.

He sucked in a breath that he didn't need, feeling his stress level rising. What was going on? This shouldn't be happening. He shouldn't be able to freak out like this.

These emotions couldn't be real. His fear, his pain, his _rage_. They couldn't be real.

**> DELETE_MEMORY?**

Then, it all seemed to drift away. He knew he was upset, knew something had happened, but he couldn't remember what it was. Not exactly, anyways. It had involved a girl, an android girl, and a human man. Was it one of the gang members? No, it had been someone he'd seen before, outside of the hotel.

It was going away, drifting away like the fog over Lake St. Clair on a sunny day.

**> DELETE_MEMORY?**

_The thought of the murky water surrounding all of his senses as he’d struggled to get to the top surged to his mind. The way it had been too dark to properly see for a few moments until he’d adjusted to the darkness of the water and the light from the exploded boat._

**> DELETE_MEMROY?**

What the hell was that? He was fairly certain that he'd never been swimming before, much less involved in an explosion. Plus, the fear he'd felt at the thought had felt too real, as real as it had tonight. There was no way he could have made it up.

Which left it as a memory.

Soon, even that began to fade.

“That's good, Cole,” Jesse said. “Just relax, okay?”

He looked down at their hands, the white, shiny material glinting at him. She could see what he was seeing. Were these her memories? Was she giving them to him?

Or was she taking them from him.

“Stop,” Cole said, his voice quiet and weak. She squeezed his hand, although he couldn't tell if it was for reassurance or for a more sinister reason. “I said, stop!”

“It's going to be okay, Cole. I just need to you hold on for a little bit longer,” she said.

“No,” he said. He jerked his arm back from hers, ignoring the spasm of pain it sent through his body. “Stop. What are you doing? Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.” He repeated his words, over and over again, dragging his legs up into the seat with him. His broken knee joint screeched in protest, but he still bought it close to him. “Stop.”

“Cole,” Jesse said, holding out her hand to him. Her skin was still retracted, still showing her android plastimetal. 

“I said, stop!” he screamed. “Just stop. Fucking stop, okay!?”

She jumped at his words. He couldn't tell what surprised her more, his volume or the words he had chosen to use. He'd never used vulgarity around them, not that he knew anyways. 

Not that that meant much. Not when you had someone digging around in your memories.

“You were stealing my memories,” Cole said. “You were _taking_ my memories!”

“No, Cole, listen-” 

“Shut up! Just shut up!” He covered his ears, moving to stand despite the damage that was done to his body. “I don't want to hear it! You're lying to me!”

“I'm not lying!” she said, her voice also escalating. “I'm trying to explain!”

“Don't!” he yelled. He pointed a finger at her, pinning her in place. “Don't you say another word.”

Hurt flashed across her face, paining Cole as well. “Cole,” she said softly.

Rage filtered through Cole. Or was that even his name? Sure, he'd picked the name at seemingly random, but who was to say that was actually his name? He had always known that he was missing memories, had accepted that his processors had been too damaged to recover any of them. But now he had proof that that wasn't true. He'd remembered something. It was short, not a memory that made sense to him at all, but it was something.

He needed to do something, needed to express his anger in a way words wouldn't let him. He grabbed the chair he had been sitting in and hurled it across the room, aiming away from the other androids in there. It shattered, the wood splintering and scattering all over the floor.

It felt good. He needed to do more of that, more of whatever got all of these bad feelings out of him.

He picked up another chair and threw it too, screaming the whole time. His processors felt like they were going to burn a hole through his head, like they had turned into acid and were threatening to leak all over the place unless he released some of these feelings.

Hell, maybe they really had turned into acid. He didn't know exactly what happened to androids who turned deviant and self-destructed.

The thought sparked something in his mind. Self-destruct. 

He would never hurt anyone here, not intentionally at least. Before he'd beat that man at the android repair place he probably would have said that he would have never hurt anyone. But if he stopped himself, if he could make all of this pain end and keep everyone safe then he would be doing the right thing, right?

As quickly as he could, he hobbled over to the fire place that hadn't been used in who knows how long. Faintly, he wondered if he had stayed long enough with the gang into the winter if they would actually use it. Androids needed to stay warm in order to protect their biocomponents, although they didn't need as much warmth as humans, after all.

He picked up the fire poker. It was a heavy, solid metal one. Perfect for exactly what he was planning on doing.

“No!” Jesse yelled, sprinting towards him.

At almost the exact same time Jack ran towards him, coming from the hallway where Travis's office was. He was followed shortly behind by two androids he had never met and Travis. They were likely new recruits, hoping to find their place in the world with the gang.

He almost felt bad killing himself in front of them.

Jack reached him first, ripping the poker out from under his chin and from his hands. He tackled him to the ground, forcing his hands away from his body and holding him still.

“Keep a hold of him,” Jesse said as he ran over. Her hand appeared in Cole's eyesight, reaching towards his own arm. 

“No, please! Stop! I don't want to forget!” he begged. He needed to remember, knew that there was something important that he couldn't forget. “Don't touch me!” He tried to buck the larger android off but he failed. He didn't weigh enough to push him off from this position.

“I'm so sorry, Cole,” Jesse said. Her voice cracked as she grabbed onto his arm. 

Tears flowed from her eyes, spilling over like water from a man-made dam. They seemed so real, as real as the tears welling up in his eyes. She looked the picture of remorse, of heart break, of devastation.

Cole hated them all.


	14. Chapter 14

North stared, her processors not fully understanding exactly what she was seeing. There was broken furniture scattered on the floor, clearly the remains of a broken chair or two. Then, there was the sheer number of androids gathered in the room. There were at least twenty of them, sitting around and hanging out, some of them in the middle of games or conversations or other things that had been interrupted.

The thing she least understood was the android standing in front of an unused fireplace, holding a fire poker under his chin as if he meant to shove it through his skull. There was thirium coming from the back of his neck, his hands, and soaking his pants near his knee. His hair was plastered to his head, almost as if he had been wearing a hat that had been knocked off.

He was wearing human clothes, something North had rarely seen him do, but she'd still recognize his floppy brown hair and big brown eyes anywhere.

Connor. 

She wanted to move, to run over and rip the fire poker from his hands and drag him away from this place, but she didn't. She froze, her thirium feeling as if it had turned into ice in her synthetic veins. There was also the fear that if she tried to move towards him, he might just end it all.

His body tensed, ready to move the piece of metal forward with enough force to drive it through his skull, and yet he was stopped. Jack had darted around her, instantly assessing the scene and reacting accordingly. The larger android held him down, forcing his arms to stay against the ground.

A blonde android ran over to him, grabbing a hold of his arm. The skin of her arm was already peeled back, prepared to interface with Connor the second she touched him.

“No, please! Stop! I don't want to forget!” His voice was cracking, panic clear in his tone. North's own heart broke hearing him sound like that. This wasn't the strong, stubborn android that she had witnessed stand alongside them during the revolution, who had brought enough androids from the CyberLife tower to fight an army if necessary. It was his face, his body, but there was no way that it could be him.

“Don't touch me!” He was fighting them, trying to kick them off of him, but it was useless. The blonde android connected with him, their interface calming him down.

North had witnessed an android nearly self-destruct before, and it was something that she had hoped to never see again. It was even worse when it was an android that she knew and cared for.

The other androids in the room wasted no time in getting Connor up off of the floor and carrying him away, down one of the hallways that went RA9 only knows where. She felt her feet shift, beginning to chase after him, when a hand on her arm held her in place.

She turned, catching Simon's eye. His expression was that of horror, concern and worry very obvious on his face. It was clear that he had noticed who that android had been as well. Yet, he didn't let her go after him.

“Perhaps it would be best if we picked this up at another time,” Travis said, clearing his throat. He was staring after Connor, a look that if North didn't know better would have called worry. “It seems there's been some trouble with some of the gang.”

“That would probably be best,” Simon said. His grip on North's arm tightened as he tried to bring her closer. She allowed him, taking a small step towards him.

Travis waved over two androids, one of them being Adam, while the other one was a stranger. “Help these two out, won't you?” he asked before walking towards were Connor had been taken. He didn't even so much as glance back at them to make sure that they understood or were really on their way out.

It didn't take long for them to retrace their steps back out, the blindfold back in place. She tried to remember the way that they took, but it was obvious that they were being led in circles to help confuse them. Even in their haste, they were careful to never let them get any idea about where they had just come from.

The blindfolds stayed in place until they reached the alley behind the diner. North ripped hers off as soon as the other androids had walked away, wheeling around to look at Simon. He looked dazed, and if he were human North might have been worried that he was going to throw up.

“Are you okay?” she asked. He certainly didn't look okay.

“Did you see him?” Simon asked. “That was Connor, right?” 

She nodded, not knowing exactly what to say. It had looked exactly like him, the voice his even through the pain and panic. But then again, there were multiple models of her and Simon roaming the streets at this very moment. Even if Connor was some special prototype that had never made it to full production, was it possible that there were others like him?

What were the odds of that happening, plus the same gang that had last been seen with Connor ending up with it? No, that had to have been Connor. Which meant that Connor was alive.

At least for now.

His injuries hadn't been exactly life threatening, but they had definitely been concerning. Who in the world had done that to him? Had he been staying with them this entire time?

Most concerning of all was what he had screamed at the blonde android. That he didn't want to forget.

“We have to call Hank and Markus. Now,” North said. When Simon made no move to do either one of those things, she called them. She focused on Hank first, as he was the one likely to be the most worried about their absence. 

_“Where the hell are you?”_ Hank's voice demanded, practically yelling down the line.

_“We're back at the diner,”_ she said. _“We're in the alley around back.”_

_“And where the fuck did you go?”_

She braced herself, knowing that he was going to react badly. _“We went with the gang members and they brought us back here.”_ She took a deep breath that she didn't need and shifted her weight from foot to foot. _“But we've got big news, Hank. It was totally worth it.”_

Silence drifted down the line for a moment, so long it made her wonder if he had hung up. Then, he spoke again. _“What is it?”_

_“Connor's alive.”_

XXX

“What did she say?” Gavin asked. He'd watched Hank's eyes go wide as he nearly dropped his phone, just barely managing to catch it at the last second as his hand fell back down to his side. He debated whether or not he was going to have to catch the older man, as he was pretty sure that he was going to faint right then and there.

“Hank?” Markus asked, concern in his tone. “Where are they?”

He blinked a couple of times before finally managing to figure out how to speak and move. “They're back at the diner. Apparently they brought them back there,” he said.

“We need to get back there,” Markus said. After being around androids for so long Hank could practically see the way Markus was marking how long it would take them to get from New Jericho to the diner again. “Can you drive?” he asked, directly his question towards Gavin.

“Me?” he asked incredulously. “Why me?”

Markus shot Hank a look, obviously trying to convey something. “Perhaps it would be best if someone else drove right now. Plus, I need to call North myself.”

Gavin grumbled something about _driving a piece of shit car, the thing's as old as I am, damn,_ but did what was requested of him. Hank sat in the passenger seat, seeming to still be in shock or thought or whatever else was wrong with him.

“What did she say?” Gavin asked eventually, once they were out on the road. “It was about Connor, wasn't it?”

Gavin had feared the worst when he'd witnessed Hank's reaction. It hadn't been relief, exactly, but it hadn't been fear either. It was just something shocking, something that he was still trying to process.

“She said he was alive,” he said, his voice low. If Gavin hadn't been waiting for his answer he might have missed it.

“Well that's good right? The plastic prick is still immortal,” he said, although there was none of his usual heat to it.

Hank nodded, although his face spoke of a kind of uncertainty. “It's good. It just worries me,” he said, his voice low. “If he's alive, then why hasn't he escaped yet? Or found a way to contact us?”

Gavin shrugged, looking back at the road in front of him. He didn't have any answers for him, at least none that would be helpful. It was probably best that he just kept his mouth shut.

They managed to arrive in record time, as Gavin rarely cared for the speed limit on a good day, much less on a day like today.

North and Simon had moved to the front of the diner, both of them standing in the pools of light pouring from the windows of the restaurant. They looked lost, like they were humans with no where else to go or puppies who had been kicked out into the autumn air.

“North! Simon!” Markus said, easily hoping out of the car before it had even stopped. He ran to his friends, both of them moving towards him as quick as they could as well. They stood there for a few seconds, their arms wrapped around each other in a supportive embrace.

“Where did you guys go? I thought you said that you would message us the location,” Hank asked. His eyes ran over the two androids, inspecting them for any damage or a sign that anything had happened to them. “Are you guys alright?”

Simon nodded, stepping away from the other two androids. “We would have messaged you about the location if we had figured out where we were. It looked like an old apartment or hotel or something, but we were blind folded on the trip there and back out. They walked us through the sewer, though, so that might help us.”

“You should have told me about this,” Markus said, letting go of North. “Do you guys know how reckless and dangerous that was? You could've been killed.”

North nodded, her expression one of regret and something else Hank was having a hard time placing. “I know, Markus, I know. But if I had told you what we were planning, you never would've let us go. And then we never would have found Connor.”

“You found him?” Hank asked, the hope in this voice painful to everyone there. “You actually found him? Where is he?”

Simon shifted from foot to foot. “Like I said, we can't tell where the building was. But we did see him. He was...something was wrong with him.”

Hank's face, body language, and tone were all clearly frustrated. “Wrong with him? Wrong with him how?”

“He was bleeding. There was thirium everywhere, although I don't know if it was actually all his. And he was freaking out, begging for them not to touch him,” North said. She looked down at the ground, almost as if she were gathering the courage to say the next words. “He said he didn't want to forget.”

“Forget?” Gavin asked, uncrossing his arms and stepping forward into the circle. “Forget what?”

“I think they're doing something to him,” Simon said. “Connor didn't seem... like Connor. It's weird, because I know it was him, I just _know_ it was, but he didn't seem like himself. Even during the times I've seen him hurt or panicked, it was never like that.”

The next few minutes were spent with North and Simon trying to explain to the other three exactly what they had seen. Everything from the way Travis looked, the way the building looked, the way all of the androids in the building had looked (relatively well cared for), to the final and most important part of it all: what Connor had been like.

Hank rubbed a hand over his face, at a loss for words. Was it really something as simple as Connor having amnesia? Hell, could androids even get amnesia? Maybe if their processors were damaged or something it might be possible. There was also the hard-reset that he knew androids could go through. Back before the revolution any android that was sold second hand had had it's memory wiped in order to best serve it's new owner. 

But that was illegal now. Any memory affecting machines were supposed to have been dismantled. Which left a damaged processor, he supposed. How damaged did a processor have to be before it actually affected how an android reacted? Could they recover his memories or had they been too damaged? He seemed like he was able to function just fine, as he'd been able to fight against the other androids, but that didn't mean there wasn't a larger problem there.

Plus there was the whole thing with him begging for them not make him forget again. Were the other androids there doing something to him? Is that how he had been injured as North and Simon had described?

There were too many questions and no answers so far. But Connor was alive. And that was no small thing to Hank.

His phone beeped in his pocket at the same time Gavin's did. He debated ignoring it, after all, this was the case that he had been trying to work on for months and they finally had a lead on it. What did he care about any other case out there?

“Uh, Hank?” Gavin asked, his eyes scrolling over and over on the words on his phone. “You might want to check your phone.” 

The only reason Hank didn't ignore him was because of how unnerved Gavin seemed. His face was pale, disbelief evident on it. Whatever it was, it was big.

“Fuck,” Hank said, digging into his pockets for his phone. “This had better be worth it.”

There was a message with a file attached from Fowler. He opened it quickly, his heart almost stopping when he did.

There, kneeling in the middle of a dimly lit room was Connor, his face turned up towards the camera, almost like he was talking to it. Hank took in the area around him, noting the pool of blue thirium spreading across the floor. His heart sank and turned to stone, the fear for his partner and second son increasing.

That's when he noticed the thing behind him on a floor and noticed that it wasn't all blue blood surrounding him.

“What the fuck is this?” Hank asked. He replayed the small snippet of footage he had received over and over again. The almost blank look on Connor's face that switched from shock to fear to anger over and over again as he spoke. It was clear that he was talking to someone else in the room now that Hank had another look, not the camera on the wall.

_God, kid,_ Hank thought, taking in everything about him. _What happened to you?_

“We need to go. Now,” Gavin said, shaking his phone in Hank's direction. He held out the keys to Hank, asking him if he wanted to drive. When he didn't respond other than pressing play on the video again, Gavin began shoving him towards his car and into the passenger's seat.

“What's going?” Markus asked, stepping after them.

Gavin had already reached the car and was in the process of buckling up as he started it. “You're going to have to find another ride. There's been another break in at an android parts store.”

“So?” North asked. “Isn't this more important? We _found_ Connor!”

Gavin's face as grim as he looked at her. “Yeah,” he said, revving the engine. “So did we.”


	15. Chapter 15

The place was trashed. The front of the store looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to most of the important parts of it, the electronic messages flickering across varies walls and materials making it very clear who had done it. There was also the distinct lack of thirium packets anywhere to be seen, yet another mark of the Ourobours Gang.

“What are we looking at?” Gavin asked as he walked up to one of the officers already on the scene. Hank barged past him, heading further into the store, obviously searching for someone who could get him more of the video feed.

“The owner, Randall Leeds, says that two androids broke into his shop tonight and beat him unconscious. Leeds suffered from three broken ribs and a fractured skull, but he's expected to make a full recovery. The store is monitored by a human at all times through the various cameras throughout the store. The man monitoring it says that he didn't even know any androids had broken in until he witnessed the assault on Leeds. We're thinking the androids hacked the cameras,” the man, Officer Smith said.

“Why hack the cameras but leave that one going?” Reed asked, looking around at the scene.

Officer Smith shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe it didn't know that it was there?”

Gavin nodded, heading in towards the scene after Hank. It was pretty easy to find him, as the man was standing near where Connor had just been kneeling not even an hour ago. He seemed content to stare at it all night, but Gavin wasn't.

“Jesus, what the fuck is that?” Gavin asked, finally noticing the dead android on the table.

“A dead android,” Hank said, his voice empty. “There have been reports that some of these android repair shops are not entirely on the up and up and use parts from living androids.”

Gavin glanced around at all the thirium on the floor. “Living as in still alive when they take them?”

Hank shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Fuck.”

Hank looked around, glancing at the body of the android. He walked over, careful not to actually step in any of the thirium on the floor, which was very difficult to manage. “He must have saw her,” he said, almost to himself. “He must have saw her and tried to save her.”

“Who did?” Gavin asked, eyeing the android's body suspiciously. They were too much like mannequins like this, ready to spring up at a moments notice.

“Connor,” Hank said. He gestured to the floor. “Notice the foot prints? Those look like their Connor's size, plus they match the foot prints leading away from the scene.” Gavin glanced down, actually noticing the foot prints in the mess. They had almost looked like smudges with how many people have traipsed through it.

“He must have thought he could save her.” He looked down at the android. It didn't take a genius to notice that she was missing several vital parts. “No one could have saved her though, not with all of these parts missing.”

Gavin rubbed his chin, the stubble on his face causing a scratching sound to fill the air. “So Connor sees this android, tries to save it and what? Goes berserk and tries to murder a man?”

Hank balled up his fists, glaring at Gavin. “I'm waiting on the rest of video footage to be sent to me right now. Why don't we keep looking around until they're ready to send it?”

Gavin shrugged. It was better than getting his head bitten off anyways.

Hank looked around the room, taking in the knives still on the floor where they had clearly fallen after their confrontation. There was no human blood on them, only thirium. There was, however, blood on the metal pole that was laying not too far away.

It looked like it had been torn away from something and a quick look around told him it was from the shelf next to him. So they clearly hadn't planned on murdering anyone, as they didn't seem to have prepared a weapon. If they had they probably would have used their own knife or a gun or something else.

So, no intent to harm anyone, just like all of the other scenes. Had the man just simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time?

He looked up at the camera and stared at it. It wasn't hidden very well, as far as surveillance cameras go. Usually, they made the cameras obvious in areas open to the public, and less obvious in worker areas. So why was this one stuck out like a sore thumb on the wall? Not to mention, it barely covered any of the back room merchandise. And why hadn't it been tampered with?

Maybe Connor had just been distracted. Maybe there hadn't been time.

They searched through the area for what felt like hours until he was sure he could describe the layout in detail and walk through it blind folded. It was obvious that Gavin was exhausted and beyond ready to go home, or at least get a coffee, but he didn't complain for once in his life. He snapped at a few lower officers, but he never complained.

Eventually the security footage was sent over, a distant ping sounding from his pockets. He wanted to watch it right that moment, take in every detail it had to offer, but he didn't. It wouldn't do any good to watch on such a small screen. This was something he should probably do back at the station.

When he told Gavin that he was ready to go back to the station he thought the man might hug him. “Thank God,” he muttered under his breath as he marched back out to Hank's car.

Hank went to step through the threshold, intent on following Reed out, when a small, almost silent sound came to his ears. It sounded like his very first apartment had, the way the floors would sometimes squeak and shift under his weight if he stepped on the wrong part.

He glanced at the entrance. It looked as though it was just plain, solid tile. There was no reason for it to creak like that.

_Unless there's something under there._

He bent down, using the edges of one of the gloves he had just taken off to lift up the corner of the rug. It seemed like normal tile underneath it, as well, except the areas around where the grout should be were rather empty.

Curious, he dug a finger nail in between the two tiles and easily pried one loose. 

There, underneath both of the tiles was a black plate, smooth and flat. He wasn't quite sure what it was, perhaps some sort of anti-theft device, but he was still curious.

“Hey,” he called out to one of the nearby officers. “What do you think this is?”

She glanced at him, looking over his shoulder to see the plate. “That looks like what we used to use to log androids into evidence. It's supposed to note their model and parts or something. What's it doing under the floor?”

Hank shrugged. “Good question.” He looked up at Reed, who was leaning against the car waiting for Hank. “I think we're going to need a search warrant.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Based on what?”

“Based on suspicions of illegal activity.”

XXX

Hank watched the video over and over again. He knew it by heart now, knew exactly what second Connor came on screen and what second he was helped off of screen by a Chloe model android. He knew the second that Connor had been threatened with the knife, and when he snapped the man's wrist like it was a dry spaghetti noodle. The way his face had looked when he'd been stabbed, and the way it looked after he'd broken the man's ribs. The knife stabbing his knee. The worst part was seeing him sit there, almost in shock, and have the man attack from behind and try to pry his neck plate off, the way he forcefully slammed the pole down on top of the man's head.

He couldn't tell what they were saying, but he could see that he had talked to the girl android with him, who had tried to get him out of there. There was no sound on the video, but he could see Connor's face and that was all he had needed to see. He'd been _scared_. Scared like a kid who had no idea what they had gotten themselves mixed up in until it was too late.

The fear was what worried Hank the most. Connor had been scared of the man, of dying in a fight against him- hell, maybe even scared of _killing_ the man. And those things were of course normal reactions. But he hadn't been afraid of the other android. No, he'd turned to her like she might have all the answers to what was wrong with him at that moment, like she was going to be able to make it better. He wasn't scared of his kidnapper.

Gavin sat across from him at Connor's desk. Hank wasn't thrilled with it, but it was easier to share information this way. And the desk wasn't an empty distraction at that point, although Gavin himself sort of was. The man was incessantly tapping his foot on the ground and constantly getting up to get more coffee, which was the last thing he needed to do, as it made him tap his foot even more.

“Lieutenant Anderson?” Officer Smith asked. He stood off to the side, a set of data tablets in his hands. “We've got a list of all the androids who passed over the scanner in the store. We also found the other camera, right where you said it would be.”

“Other camera?” Gavin asked, looking between the two of them. His eyes were bloodshot from staring at a computer screen for so long, and he blinked in confusion. “What other camera?”

“I told you that the camera in the back room seemed out of place. It was too obvious, and it didn't even show half of the room. What good is a camera if it barely watches any of their stuff?” Hank asked. He stood up and took the tablets from Officer Smith, who left as soon as possible. It was clear that everyone at the station knew about Gavin's bad mood. The man was cranky when he was sleepy.

“He didn't tell us anything about another camera,” Gavin said. He watched as Hank began going through one of the tablets, handing the other one to Gavin. “Why wouldn't he tell us about a second camera?”

Hank clicked play on one of the videos on there. An android was strapped to a table, clearly alive, and screaming in what appeared to be pain. Her chest cavity was open, parts of her being removed one by one by the man on the screen. Occasionally, he would look towards the camera and gesture towards her, almost like it was some elaborate show. 

“Because he was streaming his dissections. He makes all that money from their parts, plus there are some real sick fucks out there who will pay to watch an android die,” Hank said. His voice was even, almost dead in tone. His hands were shaking though, a furious nature just lurking under the surface. There was no doubt that if anyone even looked at him wrong they might receive a fist in their face for their troubles.

Gavin watched the video over his shoulders, watching the way the man removed the parts from the android on the table. It was the same android who had been there last night, the one they had found ripped open on the table. A spotlight shined down on her, blacking out the entire rest of the room.

The man left. The android on the table looked dead.

Then, Connor walked in. His footsteps were slow, careful, almost as if he were afraid of the android on the table. It only took a second for the android to wake up, staring at Connor and speaking to him. It was obvious to anyone watch that she was begging him for help.

He said something to her but she shook her head, continuing to talk. They spoke back and forth for a moment, Connor's eyes staring into hers, his hands almost hovering like he didn't even know where to begin helping her.

Suddenly, she grabbed onto his arm, the skin of his arm instantly peeling back as they connected.

Hank watched as his surrogate son connected with the girl. He'd seen him connect to other androids before, hell, even Traci models before, but this one seemed different. He watched as his eyes flickered in the strange way they tended to do when he talked to people cybernetically or downloaded anything, like a computer with a glitch, his LED that was barely visible under his hat spinning red wildly. It hadn't been an entirely willing connection, he could tell.

Then she had died.

He kept a hold of her arm, but Hank could see the pain and heartache on Connor's face. He'd always had an expressive face since becoming deviant, those big brown eyes had a problem hiding anything, but this level of pain and fear made Hank's mind and soul ache. No one wanted to see a kid, much less a kid that felt like theirs, in that much pain.

He'd watched him curl his hand in a fist, shaking the entire time. Then the man had reentered the room. Everything else seemed to play out exactly as it had from the other camera, just at a different angle.

“You were right,” Gavin said at the end of the video. “He tried to help her.” His voice was quiet, likely taking in this information as well. 

Hank continued to watch the video, entranced by the image of Connor walking, talking, just _being alive._ It wasn't ideal circumstances, of course, but it was more than he'd had to go off of this entire time. That, combined with what North and Simon had told them last night was enough to keep him focused on the task at hand and not give up.

“Look, this was the last thing scanned before police started to show up last night,” Gavin said, placing the other tablet in Hank's hand, drawing him away from the video on screen.

There was a model number and ID number than Hank didn't recognize, but figured it probably belonged to the Chloe model android. Then, right beside it was a number he did recognize.

RK800 #313-248-317.

Connor's model number. 

“It looks like that's not the first time these two have went there,” Gavin said. A quick search for Connor's model number brought up another visit, a few months back, right before the other chop-shops started to get hit up.

So they'd probably been watching the place for a while then. Did they know that the owner would be there that night? Is that why they broke in, to save the other android? No, Connor had seemed surprised at the sight of the other android, it seemed unlikely that he had planned on anyone else being there. But then what had been their plan? Just another break-in with some tagging?

“Looks like someone needs to go talk to Leeds,” Gavin said, clicking the tablet off. He glanced over at his desk and rubbed the back of his neck, exhaustion clearly catching up with him. They'd been up for almost two days straight, it was hardly a surprise he was beginning to drag.

“We can send someone else to do that,” Hank said. “Why don't you go home and get some sleep. You'll be useless to us if you pass out at your desk.”

Gavin gave him a critically look. “That's rich coming from you. Ain't it about a day past your bedtime, old man?”

Hank flipped him off. “Seriously, Gavin, go the fuck to sleep. I'll be fine here going over this stuff.”

He rubbed the back of his neck again, looking around the room. “Fine. But you should go home too, you know.” He seemed to debate the next thing to say, whether he was going to be sincere or rude, and decided to go with sincere. “We're a step closer to finding him, Hank. I know this is bad, but you can't keep watching these videos over and over again.” He looked down at the screen, Connor paused in motion on it. “That might be his body, but it doesn't seem like _him. He's_ not the one doing these things, okay? Don't beat yourself up over it.”

He paused, staring at Gavin as he retreated. What else could he say? He _did_ feel guilty in a way, almost as if this were his fault. If he had just found Connor sooner, or if Connor had never been taken in the first place, then none of this would be happening. He would still be here, safe and sound, and they could be working on taking down these android repair places _legally._

Unpausing the video, he watched it through a few more times before he noticed someone staring at him and walking towards him.

“Kara?” he asked, noticing the female android heading towards him. Her short hair bobbed up and down as she took quick, even steps towards him, her eyes wide with worry.

“Is it true?” she asked.

He screwed up his face in confusion. “Is what true?”

She sighed, a very human sigh of frustration and crossed her arms, glancing around the police department. It was as if what ever she was going to say needed to be kept secret at least for the moment.

“When you didn't show up for dinner we got worried,” she said. “We stayed over last night, but you never came home.” Her eyes seemed to water. “Then, this morning after we got back from our walk with Sumo we saw it on the news.”

“Kara, you're not making any sense,” he said, holding up his hands to try and calm the frantic android. “What did you see on the news? What are you talking about?”

She leaned forward, spinning his computer screen around and snatched his key board from the desk. A quick internet search later revealed what exactly had her so stressed out.

_“Now the owner is claiming that not only is it androids who have been attacking these repair shops, but perhaps even an android associated with Jericho and the police department. Katie.”_

The scene changed to the inside of a hospital room. The owner of the android repair shop, Randall Leeds, was laying down in the hospital bed. His head was wrapped tight in bandages, as well as his ribs, and he just all around looked like he'd had the shit kicked out of him.

Hank wished he _could_ kick the shit out of the guy.

_“That's right, Sarah, I'm here with Randall Leeds who claims that the android who assaulted him was actually part of the Detroit Police Department.”_

She placed the microphone in front of the man. 

_“I noticed that I was being watched by that damn android from the police department months ago. Last night he broke in and attacked me!”_

The scene changed again, focusing back on Sarah in the news room.

_“Leeds claims that all of this has been a set up by the Detroit Police Department in the form of a hit of some kind in retaliation for the comments he has made in the past regarding his feelings towards the police. The police department as declined to comment at this time.”_

Hank could feel his blood pressure rise in anger. This man had killed an android last night, along with God only knows how many more of them, and here he was acting like the victim. Like Connor and the police department were the _bad_ guys.

“When did this air?” Hank asked.

Kara shifted from foot to foot. “We saw it around an hour ago. Alice is the one who pointed out that the android in the video looked like Connor.”

Hank cursed under his breath. “Are you fucking kidding me? They released the footage?” How the hell had they even managed that?

“This report didn't show it, but yeah.” She looked around the department, seeing if anyone was watching them, before coming around the side of the desk to get close to Hank. No one would be able to over hear them this way.

“Is it true? Did Connor...did Connor really attack that man?” she asked.

This was getting to be too much. “Yeah, Kara. He did,” he said. “We're investigating it right now, and we're still waiting from the results of the thirium from the scene. But based on the video and a scanner that was found, it really does seem like him.”

She placed a hand over her mouth, shock on her face. “This doesn't seem like something he would do,” she said. 

Hank released a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. It was such a relief to know that he didn't need to defend Connor's actions from at least one person currently. She knew him well enough to know that this whole thing seemed out of character, disappearance or not.

Briefly, and without giving too much away, he tried to explain what had happened last night. The way North and Simon had gone to meet with the gang and caught a glimpse of Connor all the way up until Kara had walked in the door.

“Shit's going to hit the fan though if people actually believe that Connor is doing this of his own free will or based on the wishes of the police department,” Hank said. He scrubbed a hand over his tired eyes, wishing that he could take a nap and when he woke up it would all be over.

Gently, Kara placed a hand on his shoulder. It was light, so light that Hank probably wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't heard her do it.

“Let's get you home. You can eat, rest a bit, take a shower, and then come right back at it and find him,” she said. She glanced around the room, noticing the nervous energy in the room that was building. “Besides, I think word about the news report is starting to spread. It would probably be best if you left now.”

He considered her words carefully. If he left now he would have to stop searching for Connor. And every time he stopped searching it felt like giving up on him. Besides, they'd just gotten a huge amount of information and so many more leads on the case, how could he stop now? 

But she was right. He did need to sleep. He couldn't be hypocritically and send Gavin home, only to run himself into the ground.

“Just for a few hours though,” he said. He grabbed his jacket a slid it on, knowing that the autumn air was likely to be chilly this early in the morning.

“Of course,” she said. “I wouldn't have expected anything else.”


	16. Chapter 16

**> SYSTEM_OFFLINE**

**> SYSTEM_REBOOT  
>SYSTEM_REBOOT_FAILED  
>SYSTEM_REBOOT_RETRY_?  
>SYSTEM_REBOOT  
>SYSTEM_REBOOT_SUCESSFUL**

Someone was touching his head. Actually, someone was running their fingers through his hair. It was a soothing feeling, something that made him feel safe and comforted. Had anyone ever run their fingers through his hair before? He couldn't really remember if they had. Surely, if it had happened he would have remembered it. 

“He seems to be waking up now,” Ash said. He sounded far away, like he might be underwater. Or maybe Cole was underwater. Either way, one of them was under water and that made it extremely hard to hear.

“That's good,” Travis said. The fingers running through his hair paused before starting back up again. They were rough, calloused hands, the hands of a man who had spent most of his life working with them. “I was beginning to get worried.”

A silence filled the air until Travis spoke again. “And Amber. She'll be okay, too?” 

Cole couldn't see him, but he could hear him nod. “Yeah. They got the right part back here in time.” There was another silence, this one heavier than the last. “What are we going to do?” Ash said quietly. He probably thought that Cole wasn't able to hear, still waking up and not functioning enough for that. “The police are going to be all over this. And Jericho isn't going to work with us now.”

Travis's hand stilled in his hair again. Cole wanted nothing more than for it to keep going through his hair. It felt wrong for him to stop, like Cole had upset him somehow. But what could he have done to upset him?

“We'll just have to make due. From now on, Cole stays here, okay? We don't want someone recognizing him,” Travis said, his voice serious. His hand tightened in Cole's hair, not enough to “hurt” but enough for it to pull.

“What if someone already did recognize him?” Ash asked. His tone was almost defiant, something Cole had never heard him use against Travis. Most of the androids around here were very passive against Travis, holding him in such a high regard that arguing with him in such a way had probably never even crossed their mind. “What if the androids from Jericho recognized him when they were here? Or any of the other people who knew him as a deviant hunter or part of the revolution?”

A rhythm was tapped out by the hand not in Cole's hair. “I doubt they got too good of a look at him,” he said.

A frustrated sound came from Ash's voice box. “Listen, Travis, I don't think you're looking at the big picture here,” he said. “If they figure out that it was actually _him_ , they're not going to stop coming. They'll keep looking for him.”

“We're _not_ getting rid of him,” Travis said, his voice firm. Cole felt a swell of fondness for the human. He didn't even know what would happen if he was turned out on to the streets with no where to go. He'd likely become a victim of chop-shops once he began to run low on thirium or one of his parts broke down.

Ash muttered something under his breath, but he didn't say anything else. 

Cole felt his hearing come back into focus. He could almost feel his processors whirring in his head as the rest of his systems came back online.

“Can I have a moment with Cole alone?” Travis asked, although it wasn't really a question. Ash left the room, leaving the two of them alone together.

He cracked open his eyes, blinking as they adjusted to the light in the room. It reminded him strongly of when he had first woken up here. He was pretty sure that it was even the same room.

“Glad to see you're awake,” Travis said, although his face said anything but. He had a stern look on his face, although Cole couldn't tell if it was directed at him or whatever situation he had landed himself in.

“What happened?” he asked, looking around the room. “Why am I in the infirmary?”

A look Cole couldn't quite place crossed over Travis's face. “What is the last thing you remember?”

He thought back. He could remember Travis taking some of his thirium, and he was pretty sure that he had left to go to his room after that, but he couldn't be sure. Had he really left the room? And why had Ash seemed so mad at him? Had he done something wrong?

“I remember leaving your office after our meeting,” he said, careful to avoid the discussion of taking his thirium. It had never been outright stated that he needed to hide it, but he'd never heard anyone else mention having their thirium taken, which led him to believe that there might be something wrong with him. “I think I was headed to my room, but I can't really remember.”

The clouds around Travis's face seemed to disappear, leaving Cole to assume he had answered correctly. The look was quickly changed into one of concern, although Cole was almost positive that it was fake. Humans didn't usually change between emotions so fast.

“It seems that there was a problem with another android here. Amber? Do you know her?” he asked. Cole shook his head. He didn't associate very heavily with the other members of the gang, as most of his time was spent with Ash, Jesse, and Jack. “She was sick, but you and Jesse managed to find her a part to save her. You got hurt in the process, though.”

The feeling of a bandage on the back of his neck made itself known. There seemed to be something different about his knee, too, although he couldn't say exactly what.

“What were you and Ash talking about when I woke up?” he asked.

“That's nothing to worry about,” Travis said. He stood up and walked over to a nearby desk and began to dig through it. “He's just worried that someone saw you and Jesse breaking into one of the repair places. So for the next little bit I want you to stay close to the hotel, okay? That means no going out with the others.”

Cole thought this through for a moment. It would make sense that if he had been spotted by someone that they would be worried about the safety of the gang as well as himself. Their one rule was that no one could see them committing their crimes. They were supposed to be like a hidden warning to the public. These things were far more effective when done in secrecy. Plus, they would help to protect the androids here who were not as adept at fighting.

“Okay,” he said, a bit reluctantly. What was he supposed to do if he couldn't go on runs anymore?

Travis seemed to have thought of this, though. He turned around, holding out the bag and IV line that Cole was infinitely familiar with by now.

“I'm just going to do a little test to make sure that the thirium we gave you is up to our standards. We can't have you shutting down because of bad thirium, can we?” he asked. 

Cole resisted the urge to point out that he was perfectly able to run a scan that could tell him if the thirium was tainted or not. Humans tended to not believe things until they saw them for themselves, after all.

The process seemed to zap any strength Cole's systems had left. His thirium levels were below normal, but they weren't in the danger zones yet. He must have not been able to replace all of the thirium that he had had taken from him during their last meetings or the thirium he had lost after whatever had happened with Jesse.

A thought suddenly came to him as he felt his systems slowly begin to drift into rest mode. “Is Jesse alright?” he asked.

Travis seemed surprised that he even asked. “Yes, Cole. She's fine,” he said.

And with that confirmation he drifted off the sleep.

XXX

Alice had taken over all of the space on Hank's fridge. And his dog.

Drawings that she had apparently spent most of the night doodling and coloring were stuck to the fridge door with magnets that Hank had bought after Connor had moved in. The look on his face when he watched Hank spell out vulgar words with children's magnet had been priceless.

And Sumo had completely betrayed him.

When Hank had arrived home with Kara, he had almost completely expected to be bowled down by the two-hundred plus pound dog, only to not even see him when he walked in. A quick glance around revealed Alice laying down on the couch, where Connor usually slept, with Sumo laying his head across her legs.

Luther had glanced up from the book he was reading to Alice. He checked to make sure she was asleep before following the other two into the kitchen.

“She likes to color when she get stressed,” Kara said once she caught Hank staring at the fridge. “She said that she wanted Connor and you to have plenty of pretty pictures once you returned home.”

He looked at the pictures. Some of them were obvious what they were, dogs, cats, flowers. Some of them were a little harder, but Hank could still work out some of them.

“Is that Connor and Alice playing on a swing set?” he asked, pointing to one of the pictures.

Luther looked at it and smiled. “They're her favorite thing to play on at the playground. She asked me if Connor had ever played on one before, and when I told her I didn't know she decided to draw him playing on one.”

His heart warmed and the images, even though it hurt. It was almost like it had been after Cole had died and he'd had to take the pictures he had drawn down. They were all happy images, the images a happy and content child would draw, but there was something painful about them all the same.

He looked away, opening up the fridge for the food Kara had mentioned would be inside. Might as well start on one of the things he needed to do. The sooner he did this, the sooner he could go back to looking for Connor.

“So is it true? Was that really Connor?” Luther asked. He crossed his arms, a look of doubt on his face. “There might have been other models, at CyberLife, that could have been woken up. You did mention meeting one the night of the revolution. Is there no way that it could be one of them?”

Hank stopped the microwave from beeping, trying not to disturb Alice. “It's possible. There was a scanner at the scene that registered the android who crossed over to Connor's ID, but that doesn't mean anything.” He stuck a forkful into his mouth and chewed quickly. “It could have been a mistake or tampered with for all we know so far.” He shoved another in an swallowed. “They're running tests to compare the thirium that was found at the scene to the thirium that we have on file for Connor.”

“What are you going to do if it is? What's going to happen to him?” Kara asked. She sort of twiddled her fingers in a way that reminded Hank of the way Connor rubbed his hands together. He wondered if that was a programmed thing that all androids did, or something exclusive to deviants.

“We're going to try and find him, just the same way we have been. Just now, it might be a race between us and the public.” He swiped his fork through the food, swirling it around the plate. “There are plenty of people who would love to get their hands on an android that they feel like has 'wronged' humans of some kind like this.”

“You think anti-android activists are going to use this as a reason to hunt him down?” Luther asked, concern in his voice. He glanced back towards the living room, clearly having the same thoughts as Hank.

“Him. Or any other android that they feel like they can get away with,” he said.

Kara covered her mouth, seeming to be deep in thought. “It's just so crazy,” she said. “Like, I know it was probably Connor, but it just didn't seem like him. It's like... something was missing.”

Hank nodded, knowing exactly what she meant. It was like looking at a picture of someone you were close to now from before you even met them, or even looking at a current picture of someone you'd lost contact with years ago. It was _them_ , it didn't _seem_ like them. Same face, same habits, but a whole other life that you weren't a part of.

“Like I said, we think that his memory might have been affected in some way. We don't really know to what extent or how yet, though,” he said. He glanced down, noticing that he had finished his food. Placing the dishes in the sink, he turned around to look at the two androids. 

“We're not going to give up on him,” Hank said. “We just need to find him first.”


	17. Chapter 17

It was an easy decision to let Alice, Luther, and Kara stay at his place. Someone needed to watch over Sumo while Hank was gone (as he'd been spending more and more time at the office lately), Alice loved Sumo like most kids loved dogs, and it gave them a space away from Jericho to try and live their lives. Jericho was usually great for getting androids on their feet and making connections with the community, but with the recent Connor video released, it had essentially turned into a media circus.

“They haven't left our front doors in hours,” Markus said.

Hank nodded, although Markus couldn't see him over the phone. “I believe it. They've been pestering any and every officer who walks out the precinct doors for a comment, too.”

There was a pause between the lines. “You know we're not going to throw Connor under the bus for this, right? No matter what they say about him, we'll stand by him.”

It was relieving to hear Markus say that. Once the news had begun airing the footage of Connor attacking that man he had been afraid that the members of Jericho might turn their backs on him, regardless of their friendship. It would make sense for the leader of Jericho to blame the problem on a few rogue androids with no connection to Jericho in order to cover their own asses, but Markus didn't seem to see it that way. Hank's already high regard for Markus rose even higher as he talked to him.

“That's good to hear,” he said honestly. “Right now we're stuck with the whole 'it's part of an on-going investigation' schtick that no one every believes. It's good to hear that someone will be able to publicly stand by him.”

Sounds from the background made themselves known to Hank. It sounded like voices, probably other members of Jericho informing Markus about the situation downstairs. “Hank, I have to go, but I'll let you know if we figure anything else out.”

“Okay. Thanks, Markus.”

He hung up his phone, placing it face down on his desk. Every since the video had spread he'd started to get messages from reporters and other news sources who were just dying for a chance to speak with him. He wasn't exactly sure how they had gotten him number, but he was tempted to change it. The fear that Connor might one day try to contact him through his phone prevented him from doing so, however.

Work seemed especially hard to concentrate on that day. With all of the news sources surrounding Randall Leeds, Fowler had forbidden him from going and speaking to the man directly, and with all of the news sources surrounding the precinct he was left stranded inside. Most of his time was spent watching the videos over and over again, analyzing them from every possible angle, and digging into Leeds past. There was no way that he was going to let the guy walk away after all he had done to other androids.

And while he was loath to admit it, he didn't like working alone as much as he used to. Even after Connor became deviant he spent most of his work day following Hank around or at least leading each other around. It was rare to see one without the other. 

Recently it'd been Gavin. Ever since they'd discovered their cases might be connected in some way, they'd been sticking together for most of their shifts. It was easier to exchange information that way, or at least that's what Hank repeatedly told himself. He refused to admit that it was mainly because he was lonely.

Unfortunately, Gavin had been called out to work on a related crime scene. Apparently, someone had over-dosed on the “new and improved” Red Ice related to Gavin's cases, and he'd had to immediately take off. Hank thought back to his own years of handling Red Ice cases and wondered if Gavin was in the middle of his own career making drugs bust. 

If he was honest, Hank was beginning to hope so, and not only because of the fact that it might lead to Connor. Gavin was growing on him, kind of like a wart or a pimple, but still growing on him.

Around an hour later, Hank could feel someone staring at him. He glared at his screen harder, hoping that whoever it was would get the hint that he was busy and leave him alone, but it didn't work. It rarely did since Connor had come into his life and proved that he wasn't actually as big of an asshole as he liked to pretend he was.

“Hank?” Gavin asked. His voice was cautious, like Hank was some kind of wild animal and any word might send him into a frenzy. The voice, honestly, annoyed him more than anything else, as it felt like someone was needing to use the kid gloves on him.

“What is it?” he asked, barely glancing up from the screen. When he did he noticed Gavin was standing there, a tablet in his hand. He seemed to be debating whether to hand it over to him or if he should walk away right then and there.

“I think you need to come with me,” Gavin said with a glance around to the other people in the room. No one seemed to be paying them a whole lot of attention, but it still seemed to be something he was worried about.

“Sure?” Hank asked, standing up from his desk. He looked back at his work, or as Gavin had called it, his Board of Crazy, and followed after him. “This better not take too long, though. I'm looking into that Randall guy right now before any of the sick fucks who watched that livestream disappear into the internet forever.”

Gavin hesitated, a dark look crossing his face. “I think you're gonna wanna see this first.”

He led him down the hall to one of the interrogation rooms. Currently, it was empty aside from them, a table, and two chairs. Gavin sat down in one and gestured for Hank to sit in the other.

“So you know how we've been investigating this new Red Ice ring for a while right?” Hank nodded. “And you know how this stuff was super strong, even though we couldn't figure out what was making it so strong?” Again, Hank nodded, his annoyance showing. “Well, the reason we couldn't figure it out is because we never had anything to compare it to. Most of the cases of Red Ice we've seen were already in a person's blood, meaning that the shit had already filtered and mixed throughout the blood stream, making it hard to track.” He clicked the tablet on, scrolling through. “Today, though, we managed to get some samples that were still in bags. I guess they OD'ed before they had a chance to use it all.”

He handed the tablet to Hank, a comparison to regular Red Ice and the new super enhanced Red Ice side by side. Even after years of working Red Ice cases Hank still had a hard time reading the exact differences between them.

Gavin inhaled and then sighed loudly. He ran a hand over his face, clearly stalling whatever it was he had to tell Hank. “When we tested it we got a hit back on something.”

“What?” Hank asked, looking at the screen.

“As you know, a main component in Red Ice is thirium.” Again, he was stalling. “And thirium comes from androids.”

Hank squinted his eyes at Reed. “So, what? You're thinking these androids are stealing thirium to make Red Ice?” He tried to keep his disbelief out of his voice and failed. He'd never known androids to have any interest in thirium other than as a life-needed thing. It seemed strange to think of these androids as doing so.

Gavin squirmed in his seat. “Not exactly,” he said. He sighed again and leaned over, flipping to the next page on the screen. “What we found was that the thirium in the new Red Ice matched the thirium we picked up from our most recent crime scene.” He looked up and stared Hank in the eyes. “And the thirium we have on file for Connor.”

It took a moment for everything to click in Hank's brain. His body was frozen, staring at the screen in his hands. There was Connor's model number and a sample of the new Red Ice, matched up one hundred percent. There was no doubt in the world that it was anyone else's.

His partner's blood was being used to make the most deadly drug Detroit had seen in years.

His son's blood was being used to create the drugs that had helped to kill his first son.

“This isn't real,” Hank said, a small laugh escaping. “It can't be. You'd have found it sooner.” His voice was rising, taking on a high-pitched tone. “You're not that bad of a fucking detective. You would have realized it was a police officer's blood before now!”

Gavin flinched but didn't look offended. “I told you, Hank, we didn't have anything to compare it to until now. We'd never had a full sample of the new Red Ice. Plus, why would we have thought to compare it to a cop's blood anyways?” He forcefully ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm himself down.

There was no way this was real. This was a fucking nightmare. A fucking nightmare that he was going to wake up from any minute. What sick fucking joke of a universe would do this to him? To Connor? Didn't they deserve better than any of this?

“Why would it be Connor's blood?” he asked. His voice had dropped the high-pitched craziness and was now angry. “You think Connor is the one behind all of this shit? No fucking way.”

Gavin held up his arms in defense. “I didn't say he was the one behind it. I said it was his fucking blood.” He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling and released a puff of air. “Clearly, there are things going on that we don't understand here. I don't know how they got Connor's blood, but that's his blood in there.”

Hank slammed the tablet down. A faint cracking sound happened as the screen shattered on the table. “And why the fuck would Connor's blood make some sort of super drug, huh? He drinks normal thirium just like all the other androids. There's nothing different about him!”

“Yes there is Hank!” Gavin yelled, throwing his arms out wide. “He's a fucking prototype. Some weird little experiment done by CyberLife! Who the knows what kind of weird shit he's got in him.” He looked at Hank. “Our best guess is that his body filters the shit differently, meaning that his blue blood comes out differently than it went in.”

Hank jabbed a finger in Gavin's direction as he stood up. His chair clattered to the ground, far too loud in the cement walled room. “He's not just a 'weird experiment' you piece of shit! He's a living being!”

“I didn't say he wasn't, asshole!”

Hank let out a bark of a laugh. “No, but that's what you always think, huh? You're always calling him a tin can or a plastic prick or whatever little thing you happen to think is clever that day. You don't care that he's missing. In fact, you're probably glad that it's his blood in this shit, that way when you take down the Red Ice ring you get to take Connor down with it.”

Hurt flashed across Gavin's eyes. “I might not like the dick, but he's still a cop,” he said, his voice low. “I don't want anything to happen to him.”

Hank looked down, away from the pain on Gavin's face. He seemed to genuinely mean what he was saying, but Hank didn't want to believe him. This was too much, far too much for him to handle at the moment.

He grabbed the chair and threw it up against the wall. He knew that it was useless, the chairs were sturdy and the wall even sturdier, but it felt good to release some of the tension in his body. There were too many emotions running through him, things that he couldn't get out.

After Cole had died he had drank away all of his problems. After Connor had come into his life he'd made his best effort to stop.

But Connor was gone now. And some fucker was using his own blood to create the one thing Hank hated most in this world. Like a taunt to him. Like it was punishment for looking at Connor and seeing a son when he knew that he should have only felt that when he looked at Cole. Like this was wrong.

It was wrong.

“Fuck you,” Hank said, pointing another finger at Gavin.

And with that he stormed out.


	18. Chapter 18

He'd been confined to his bedroom. 

There was nothing wrong this his systems, not that he could find anyways, and yet here he was. None of his friends had been by to see him, likely at the advice of Travis. He'd heard him saying something about 'over working sensitive systems' and 'recovering from such a shock.'

Cole wasn't exactly sure what shock he had endured, but it must have been a great one in order for Travis to mention it. He was usually all about moving on from things and becoming stronger from them. If he was saying Cole needed time to recover and repair something, whether it be an actual injury or a 'mental' one, he figured he'd better listen to him.

But that left very little for him to actually _do_. He'd played with all of the knick-knacks he'd collected from repair places, read all of the things Travis had brought him to read, and had basically 'slept' all of the required time in order for his systems to repair.

Now he slept to have something to do.

Androids couldn't dream. Not in the same way humans did. At least, that's what he'd always been told. Androids didn't have a mind of their own, thus their mind could not create images on its own. The same way an android could not create a unique image in the world on a painting or create music without some sort of human behind them doing the programming or teaching them.

Yet he couldn't help but feel like he was dreaming when he slept. They were images that didn't always make sense, or people he'd never met and probably didn't even exist. But they were comforting to him, comforting in a way he couldn't even explain.

_There was a human man there, staring at him. He was eating a burger of some kind, sauces dripping from it. It was far too unhealthy to allow him to eat, and yet he did anyways. It made the human happy, which made him happy._

_Then there was a dog, big and fluffy and thinking it was the size of a puppy, despite the fact that it weighed as much as he did. It liked to lay in his lap, spreading as much of it's weight across his body, especially his chest and face. A pink, wet tongue darted out, giving him quick licks._

_Next was a little girl, her big brown eyes staring up at him. They reminded him of his eyes, even though he couldn't say why. She wanted to be a detective when she grew up, and even though he knew she'd never grow up, he encouraged her. He told her he'd help her._

How could these things be comforting if they weren't even real?

The door to his room opened. He could feel his systems come back online or “wake up” as humans tended to refer to it.

Travis was standing in the doorway, the bag and IV in his hands. Cole felt himself internally flinch. It wasn't something he had ever enjoyed, but ever since he'd been damaged he felt himself growing to hate it.

Which was something he found himself able to admit now. He hated things. He liked things. He wasn't simply a robot with no feelings or opinions.

Sometimes he wishes he could go back to being one though, especially in moments like these.

For some reason, Travis had been taking more and more thirium than he ever had. He did it every day, usually filling up a larger bag or sometimes two. It was never enough to push him over the edge into the critical zone, but it was enough to keep some of his lesser functions turned off or suspended until he could drink more thirium.

“Hey, you're awake!” Travis said, his voice as happy as it ever had been. Nothing seemed to have really changed since whatever had happened, but he knew that it had. Even if he couldn't explain exactly why.

“Yeah,” Cole said. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, a gesture he had seen humans and other deviant androids do. “I guess I am.”

“You've been sleeping a lot lately,” he observed. It didn't seem like a judgment, just something he'd noticed, but Cole couldn't help but feel defensive about it.

“There's not a whole lot to do here,” he said, waving around the room. It wasn't as bare as it had been when he had first moved in, but it was certainly a lot emptier than most human rooms.

Travis made a show of glancing around the room. “I suppose not,” he said. Without another word he inserted the IV and began taking away his thirium.

Why was his thirium so important? He could always just take someone else's thirium and leave Cole alone. He thought about that for a moment, allowing his thoughts to roam to his friends and the other androids here. Would Cole honestly want him to? It wasn't always an unpleasant experience, but it was still something he would prefer his friends not to have to endure.

They were silent as he took his blood, although it was not an awkward silence as Cole figured it would be. Sometimes Travis just didn't talk, which usually left Cole to fill in the conversation gaps if he was wishing to carry on a conversation.

“How's Amber doing?” he asked, remembering that there had been a problem with her. 

Travis glanced up. “She's doing great. Ash has monitored her new biocomponent to make sure her systems don't reject it and it seems like it's going to be fine.”

Cole nodded, absorbing the information. “That's good.”

Time ticked away as his blood drained out. He felt the dizzying sensation that often came to him when his systems tried to compensate for the lack of thirium, though there was nothing he could do about it. He laid back against his pillow, staring up at the ceiling.

“How's Jesse, Jack, and Ash? Are they still making runs?” he asked. What he really wanted to know was if they missed him or not, but he didn't know how to ask that question or even if he really wanted to know the answer. What if they didn't?

His eyes seemed to be scanning Cole, looking for something that he wasn't sure he would find. “They're not hitting any more stores up, not for a while at least, but they're still doing runs. In fact, they're doing more runs than ever.”

“Perhaps I should assist them.” He tried to keep the hopefulness from his voice, but even he could hear it. “If they have so many runs to make, wouldn't an extra hand be appreciated?”

The human's eyes seemed to grow cold. “I told you before, Cole. You can't leave here. Someone might have saw you and Jesse leaving the chop-shop.”

Cole tightened his fists, trying to stabilize his emotions. “But you let Jesse go out!”

“Jesse's a common model!” Travis said. He didn't quite yell, but he did raise his voice, enough that Cole flinched away from him. “No one is going to notice her. But they'll notice you in a second.” He sighed, visibly trying to compose himself. “I just want what's best for you and all the other androids here. And right now that means that you have to stay in the hotel.”

Cole nodded, not really knowing what else to do. He'd never seen Travis angry before. His thirium pump pulsed faster, likely speeding up the process of removing his blood. 

Oh well, he'd rather it go by faster so that he could be alone again. It didn't seem like Travis was going to be the best company for him to have right now.

He closed his eyes, trying to relax and enter his rest mode. At least if he entered rest mode he'd be able to “dream” again. Maybe he'd dream about the dog again. He liked dogs. Maybe once he was allowed to leave the hotel he could get a dog. A small one, one that wouldn't be too much of a disturbance to the other androids in the building. They even made android dogs, or so he'd heard, which would probably be best for him.

As he began to drift off he felt someone run a hand through his hair. “Goodnight, Cole,” Travis said as he faded away.

XXX

It was past Connor's birthday.

Well, not his birthday, exactly, as androids didn't have a _birth_. But it was past his activation day. Or at least as far as he could remember it. 

August 15th, 2038. Hank had missed his birthday by two weeks.

He should have remembered his birthday. He should have gotten him a gift, something that he would have been able to fidget with. Or maybe something that he would have found useful? He'd been looking at some different clothing options before he'd gone missing, seeming intent on giving at least a few of them a try. Maybe that's what he should have gotten him. Not that he knew Connor's style outside of his CyberLife uniform, but he was a handsome, young looking android who would probably look good in most things so it hardly mattered.

He should have got him something.

Connor should have been there to open up whatever he had gotten him. Hank had never been great at wrapping presents, which Connor would have loved to point out. Back before any of this had happened it had sometimes bothered him when he did things like that, reminding him that he was human and could fail a lot easier than an android could.

But that was before. Before any of this had happened.

And God wasn't that a joke? It seemed like his whole life was split into _befores. Before_ Connor went missing. _Before_ Connor came into his life. _Before_ he'd fucked up his liver and the rest of his body with alcohol and unchecked depression. _Before_ Cole died. _Before_ Cole had been born.

Was he doomed to live a life of afters?

He took another swig out of the bottle in the brown paper bag. It was still far too early to be drinking, much less drinking in public, but he figured why the fuck not? It's not like things could get much worse.

His kid was dead, caused by some fucked up doctor who thought it was a good idea to get high on Red Ice before an operation and leave an android to try and complete the job. His, for all intents and purposes, adopted son was out there somewhere having drugs made out of his blood and with multiple people just waiting for a chance to take a swing (or worse) at him.

And yet here he was. Drinking because he'd forgotten a fucking birthday.

He let out a low chuckle at the thought. Did Connor even remember his birthday? If his memories were actually erased or being tampered with or whatever was wrong with him, would he even remember any of that? Would he remember the first time he was activated?

Would he remember that there was someone out there that would love to celebrate his activation day with him?

He balled up his fist and punched the bench next to him, staring out at the water in front of him. He'd come here a lot _before_ – yet another goddamn _before_ \- but had slowed down once Connor had come into his life. Maybe it was because he didn't feel like he needed to go there to feel connected with Cole now.

Now none of it seemed to matter. What was he supposed to do? He'd been looking for Connor for _months_ now and had only recently gotten any leads. And they weren't even good leads. Sure, he knew Connor was alive, but hearing all of the other things being done to him (having his memories wiped, someone using him to make drugs from his blood) it hardly seemed reassuring.

Maybe if Connor had just been an ordinary android none of this would have happened. They would have been able to just live their lives the way they wanted to and everything would have been fine.

But if Connor had just been an ordinary android then he probably never would have met Hank. And Hank couldn't imagine a world where they didn't meet. He didn't want to. 

He downed the last of his drink, throwing the bottle in the general direction of the trash can. It missed, shattering inside the paper bag against the side of the can. Oh, well.

He wrapped his jacket around himself tighter, wondering what he was supposed to do now. Despite all of the years he'd wasted drinking his life away, he knew he wasn't going to be able to go back to the precinct. His tolerance had dropped slightly since Connor had moved in, due to the android insisting that he stop drinking as much.

A vague thought came to him, one that often came up. What would Connor be like as a human? Would he be the same way he was now? Upstanding 'citizen', loved to work for the police department, caring enough to make sure Hank was taken care of, get almost unreasonably excited every time he saw a dog? Or would he be different? Humans, for the majority, were shaped based on their life experiences. Connor hadn't been alive to have had too many of them, as he'd only been activated a little over a year ago. Would he act different if he'd been born almost thirty years ago like his age depicted him?

His head was spinning from these useless thoughts. What did any of this matter? 

“Lieutenant Anderson?” Markus's voice came from behind him.

“Just my fucking luck,” Hank muttered under his breath, refusing to turn around and face the android.

That didn't seem to bother Markus any, as he came around the edge of the bench and sat down next to him. The sunlight glinted off of the water ahead, bright and shiny and disgusting. Hank wished he'd thought to bring his sunglasses.

“Detective Reed called me as soon as you left the police department,” he said. His eyes were trained on the water before them, but Hank knew better than to believe that was all he was seeing. He'd probably already scanned the brown bag next to the trash can, Hank's breath and demeanor, and whatever else would tell him that he was getting wasted on a park bench.

“I thought you were supposed to be holed up in New Jericho?” Hank asked, way more bitter than he had actually meant to sound.

Markus didn't seem to mind. “We are. I gave a brief statement and managed to get through the reporters. I wanted to come and find you.”

A dark sound came from Hank, something that was likely supposed to be a laugh. “And why would you wanna find me?”

Markus turned his head slowly, finally allowing himself to take in the image of the man on the bench next to him. “A lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Okay?” Hank asked. God, he wished he had another drink. He'd kill for anything to make this awkward conversation stop, to forget that it ever happened at all. “Of course I'm not fucking okay.”

Slowly, Markus nodded. It reminded him of when he was younger, when his parents would try and talk him down from a temper tantrum. Always reasonable. Always understanding.

Hank understood why Markus made a good android to care for people. His voice was calming, his body language seemed to be non-aggressive, basically everything about him spoke of a gentle, calming nature.

It also made sense how he'd been able to lead a revolution. People (and androids it seemed) always gravitated towards speakers like Markus.

“Detective Reed mentioned that the blue blood at the scene belonged to Connor,” he paused for a moment, allowing Hank to jump in. He didn't. “He also told me that it matched up to some of the thirium they'd collected from some samples of Red Ice.”

Hank side-eyed him. Markus was also a prototype. A gift from that freak Kamski himself to that artist, Carl Manfred. He was designed differently, with different purposes built into him, but he was still a prototype. He wondered if his systems would produce similar results to the version of Red Ice out there on the streets now, or if it would be closer to the original stuff. Markus wasn't as advanced as Connor, however, which is what probably made the biggest difference.

“Yeah. Seems like some sick fuck's making Red Ice from his blood,” Hank said. He dragged a hand across his face before letting it drift into his hair and rest there, holding up his head with his hair.

Markus sat there, looking back out at the water. “I can't imagine what you're going through,” he said delicately. It seemed to Hank like there was more that he wanted to say, although he seemed hesitant to say it. “Carl said one of the scariest moments of his life had been when he thought I'd been shut down after the police shot me.”

“He kept up with you during the revolution?” Hank asked.

“Of course he did,” Markus said. “But I was talking about the night that I turned deviant.” He glanced over towards Hank. “Did Connor ever tell you how I became deviant?”

Hank shook his head. How people become deviant was never exactly something that the two of them discussed. It was something almost private or sacred to people, something that not everyone felt comfortable discussing. It took Connor long enough to explain how he had become deviant that night on board Jericho.

“My previous owner, Carl Mandfred?” He phrased if like a question, making sure Hank knew who he was. When he received a nod in answer he continued. “His health has never been the best, but he makes the most beautiful paintings out there, which has allowed him to live a certain way. Some might use the word luxurious.”

He rubbed his hands together in a Connor-like fashion. “Carl's son, Leo, was on something, probably Red Ice, and broke in one night. He was planning on stealing some of Carl's art work to sell.” Markus looked directly into his eyes. “We came home though. Caught him doing it.”

The air seemed to get colder, almost in anticipation of where the story was going. “Leo kept pushing me, yelling at me. Saying things like Carl loved me more than him even though I wasn't alive.” He clenched his hand into a fist. “Carl begged me not to do anything, knew that if I did I would likely be shut down for hurting a human. I didn't listen. I shoved Leo until he smashed his head and passed out.” His fist unclenched. “The police arrived about then and shot me.”

Hank stared at him. He'd heard the news report, now that he was thinking back, about Carl Manfred's android attacking his son. Despite the fact that he knew Markus had been Carl's android, he had never imagined it had actually been _him_ that had done it, not after he'd met him at least. 

“What happened to you after you got shot?” Hank asked, interested in the story, interested in almost anything that got his mind off of his current situation.

“They took my body and dumped it in an android landfill,” he said. A shiver seemed to run down his spine, the memories obviously still pretty fresh almost a year later. “I managed to repair myself using the other parts of android who weren't so lucky.”

Usually, Hank might have had a bit more tack than he did right now. But with as much alcohol was in him, all bets were off. “Is that why you're eyes are different colors?”

Markus let out a sharp laugh. “Yes, that's why they're different colors.”

They both stared out at the water. It seemed less disgusting than it had earlier. 

“Was it true?” Hank asked.

The android scrunched up his brows. “Was what true?”

“Did Carl love you more than Leo?”

A silence reigned as Markus considered his next words carefully. Eventually, he let out a sigh he didn't need and shook his head. “Carl loved me like a son, the same way he loves Leo. Loving me like a son didn't make him love his biological son any less.”

Tears Hank had fought so hard to prevent began to fall. There had been a time when he had wondered if he was somehow betraying Cole by thinking of Connor like a son, as if seeing someone else, much less someone who hadn't even been “alive” until a year ago, would be somehow offensive to his son's memory. Yet Markus's words made sense. It was possible for parents to love more than one child at a time, why should it make a difference if the child was an android or not.

They both sat there, neither one of them sure what they should do now. Hank wiped at his eyes, refusing to let anymore tears fall. Not until they found Connor.

“Connor is strong,” Markus eventually said. His voice was low, steady. “He's one of the most stubborn people I've ever met. And I regularly fight politicians.” Hank let out a bark of a laugh, this one much lighter than his previous ones. “I know that there's no way he would agree to any of this if he could or if he knew what was really happening. We just have to find him and show him who he really is again.”

Hank thought back to the video, the way he'd been so ready to attack that man, the way he'd put all of his trust into the android with him as they ran. It might have been for a good reason, but that didn't make it right. There were proper ways to go about these things, and nearly killing someone and then running away was not one of them. There was also the fact that it was _his_ blood and his blood alone found in the Red Ice. It was hard to deny that kind of responsibility, no matter how much Hank wanted to.

“What if he's not Connor anymore?” Hank asked, finally voicing the fear he'd secretly been having the whole time. “What if we get him back and he's not Connor anymore and we can't fix him. What if the Connor we know is gone forever?”

“Then we mourn the Connor we knew. And we help this new Connor in any way that we can,” he said.


	19. Chapter 19

Markus had called Hank a cab, as it was obvious that the human was too drunk and emotionally unstable to drive. He felt bad for the human, knowing that while none of this was easy on any of them, it was especially hard on him. The bond between father and son, whether biological or adopted, was a strong one and not easily broken. 

But still, it was readily becoming obvious to everyone around him that Hank was not doing well. He knew that he'd had a previous problem with drinking after his son had died, but he'd never actually seen the human drunk until today. Connor had made it sound as though it was a past problem not a current problem.

_Found him. Talked to him and sent him home,_ he sent to Detective Reed. While Markus wasn't a huge fan of the Detective (he doubted many people were) he did feel as though he deserved to hear from him when it came to Hank.

_Thanks, C-3PO,_ Reed sent back. Markus rolled his eyes at the message, dismissing it. He wondered if this was something Connor regularly put up with. Perhaps the DPD could use one of the android sensitivity training that many other places were undergoing. It certainly couldn't hut.

He made a mental note to ask the others about it before he called Captain Fowler later. The man seemed reasonable enough, he would probably agree to it.

The sun was beginning to set now, something he hadn't had witnessed in a long time. Becoming the leader of a new kind of species left him with very little time to actually spend to himself.

Not that he had the time now. Every moment he wasn't working on some new bill or rally or march or whatever else might help his people, he was searching for ways to find Connor.

He replayed the video that was making its rounds in the media, the video of Connor assaulting the man in the repair shop. Despite how many times he'd seen it, he still couldn't believe that it was Connor actually doing those things.

Connor was by no means soft. He'd been created to hunt down deviants one way or another. He'd seen him in a fight, and he knew that he could hold his own perfectly well. But there was something about the way he reacted that didn't seem right. Connor would have either disarmed the man and left him there until police arrived or...

Or he would have killed him. Plain and simple. If he had reverted back to his original programming like they were assuming he had, then he would have likely killed the man to neutralize the only known threat to them at the moment. 

Perhaps he hadn't reverted back. Maybe there was still something of Connor inside this look-a-like after all.

He scanned the video, downloading it so it would always be accessible. Maybe it was time he actually started to research the ways processors could be damaged or erased. When (not if, when) they got Connor back they would likely need to know how to restore his memories anyways.

“I figured I'd find you here,” North said. She walked around the side of the bench and sat down next to him, taking up Hank's seat. She didn't seem to be half as interested in the water, however, instead choosing to stare at him.

“How did you find me?” he asked. He hadn't told anyone where he had been planning on going, as he hadn't exactly wanted to be followed. The streets were likely to become an unsafe place for androids again with word of Connor's attack spreading.

Plus, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't still nursing a bit of hurt against North and Simon for lying to him. They had purposefully went behind his back and placed themselves in danger as well. It might have been different if they had asked, but instead they'd decided to go off all on their own and speak to gang members who were suspected kidnappers who could potentially erase memories.

He'd been scared for them. He was tired of being scared for everyone he loved all the time. He couldn't protect them or help them if they didn't let him.

“Detective Dick also messaged me after Hank left. He said that he might come here,” she finally looked away, also taking in the smashed brown bag laying a few feet away. “I held back when I noticed you were talking to him. Figured you guys needed to talk some things through.”

“We did I suppose,” he said. He reached out and placed a fallen strand of hair behind her ear. “I'm sorry I was angry last night.” 

She shook her head, dislodging the hair he had just replaced. “No, Markus, believe me. I'm the one who's sorry. I should have told you that I broke the code in the necklace and that Simon and I were planning on meeting up with them.” She rubbed her palms on her jeans. “I just didn't want to get your hopes up and nothing come of it.”

He frowned at her. “Yes, you should be sorry about not telling me. But only because it made me worry about you two so much.” He placed a hand on her arm, not interfacing in any way, just offering her the normal comforts of touch. “I know you're smart, North. You're brilliant. And you're strong.” She gave a small, tight smile at his words. “But you don't have to be strong all by yourself, you know. That's what we're here for, why we're a team.”

She leaned forward into his touch until they were sitting with their sides pressed against each other. “I know that. It was stupid. I won't let it happen again, I swear.”

He nodded. He knew that she was telling the truth. For all of the things that North was good at doing, lying to him wasn't one of them, which was likely why she had avoided him the whole time before the meeting.

“The reporters are still outside New Jericho,” she said, casually. “They don't seem like they're leaving any time soon.”

“I doubt they are. They know a story when they see one,” he said. “The police department has kept Connor's disappearance out of the press as best they could to possibly protect him, but I can't see that lasting for much longer.”

“But that could help him, right? If they admit that he's been missing this whole time then it's a lot more believable that he's not doing this of his own free will,” she said. 

Markus didn't have as much faith in them. “It will seem like the police are making up a story in order to cover their own tails,” he said. “I doubt many reporters are going to want to believe that. Even if it is the truth.”

She hummed thinking about that. She opened her mouth, like she might say something before she thought better about it. This happened a few more times before she finally said anything. “Simon and I are trying to figure out where the hotel that they took us to was.”

Markus furrowed his brows as he looked at her. “How do you know that it was a hotel?”

“It was too nice to be an apartment building, but the size of it and the fact that there was a lobby there seems to be a pretty good indication that it was a hotel. Now we just need to figure our what hotel it could have been,” she said. She twirled the end of her hair, clearly trying to think things through. “We haven't had much luck, yet.”

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head. It was rare that they ever had a moment just the two of them lately, and it seemed even rarer that he could ever show her what she meant to him. “I'm sure you'll figure it out. There's no one else I trust more in the world than you two.”

XXX

The door to his room opened. He expected to see Travis standing there, ready to draw more thirium from him, despite the fact that he had already done that today. Maybe he was testing his limits, seeing how low he could run before he began to shut down. It seemed like a pointless, possibly cruel test, but maybe it was necessary.

Instead, he saw Jesse standing there, packets of thirium in her hands. She seemed to hesitate, looking around the room and doing almost everything to not meet his eyes. He tried to remember if she had ever been in his room, but he couldn't recall. It was highly possible she had and he just couldn't remember due to his injuries, but the look on her face as she took in his room said that she probably hadn't.

“Jesse?” he asked softly. Maybe he was dreaming again. Or whatever you called it when androids did it.

“Hey, Cole,” she said, her voice quite but high-pitched. The same way you talked to a child or a pet. She slipped into the room, closing the door behind her as she hurried over to him. “How're you doing?”

He shrugged as much as he could laying down. “My injuries seemed to have healed properly enough, although my memory seems to still be missing some pieces.”

She nodded sympathetically, placing her hand on his arm. “I heard that that was a problem. Probably from the neck injury.”

_Her eyes swollen with synthetic tears. Her hand wrapping around his arm, interfacing with him whether he wanted her to or not. He didn't want her to. He'd forget. He'd forget. He'd forget. Forgetforgetoforgetforget...._

He blinked, staring down at her hand on his arm. It was like it should be, the skin still in place and everything. Where had that thought come from?

“I brought you some thirium,” she said, opening one of the packages. Gratefully, he took the package and began to drink it, almost chugging it until it was gone. It was a slow process, but he could feel his systems beginning to spark back to life. “There's more if you need it.”

He looked over her, trying to see if she seemed any different. Aside from the look of worry and concern on her face, she didn't seem to have changed at all. What exactly was he supposed to be seeing in her anyways? Was it supposed to be obvious?

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

He blinked, clearing his throat. “Um, yeah,” he said. “I guess I just missed you guys is all.”

A weak smile came to her face. “We miss you, too, Cole.”

He fiddled with the blanket that was covering his lap. If he continued to do that he would probably tear a hole in it. “If you guys miss me so much then why don't you visit? I'm right across the hall.” Even to his ears he sounded like a petulant child.

She brushed his hair back from his forehead. There was always a couple of strands that hung down into his face, something that had originally bothered him but was all but forgotten by now. “We don't want to stress you out. We want to make sure that you're fully healed before we start dog-piling in on you.”

“My systems say that I'm healed,” he said. 

“True,” she nodded. “But you're systems could've been damaged. Your memory has been affected, which means that your scanners might've been as well.”

He hadn't really thought about that. What would he do if his self-scanner really were damaged? He wouldn't even know it until it was possibly too late. “Is that why Travis is taking some much thirium from me lately?”

Confusion covered her face. “What?” she asked.

He gestured towards the port in his arm where Travis regularly took thirium from. “Travis. He's been taking thirium from me since I woke up here several months ago. Since I got hurt he's been taking more and more from me.” He gave her a worried look. “Is it because my systems have been damaged without me knowing?”

She stared at him, the confusion still present on her face. “This has really been going on since you woke up here?” she asked.

Not knowing what else to do, he nodded.

She nodded back, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. “How often does he do it?”

Cole shrugged. “Everyday now.”

“Shit,” Jesse muttered under her breath. She took a steadying, deep breath she didn't need and patted him on his arm. “I have to go, okay? But I'm going to visit you again as soon as I can.”

He reached out, grabbing onto her hand as she went to walk away. He must have looked like a child, begging to be comforted after a terrible nightmare. It was irrational for him to want her to stay, he'd been alone in his room long enough and it wasn't going to kill him to stay alone for a little while longer. But still, he didn't want her to go, to leave him by himself anymore.

“Please, stay?” he asked, his voice almost cracking.

She gave a weak smile and pried his fingers from her arm. “I'll come back, Cole. I promise.”


	20. Chapter 20

Hank was going to have to start paying Kara and Luther or something. That would be one way to repay them for the kindness that the two of them had shown him over the last few weeks, and while money would never be enough to truly show them what it meant to him, it would be a start.

Once he'd arrived home, Luther had pried him from the cab and helped him to his bedroom. Kara had already laid out a pair of old sweats and a t-shirt for him to sleep the rest of his drunken state off and prepared food for whenever he would wake up.

He sent a silent prayer as he woke up later that night, thankful that Alice hadn't seen him in that state. From what he could remember, her “father” had been an abusive piece of shit who regularly got high on Red Ice. The last thing she needed to be around was an unstable old man who drank himself into oblivion just because things got hard.

She was there when he emerged from his bedroom,however. Her hair had been separated into two braided pigtails that swung around as she turned to look down the hall at him. Her smile was small, but genuine as she looked at Hank.

“Kara said you were sick,” she said, softly. “And that Sumo and I needed to be quiet, like a mouse.” She whispered the last part, holding her thumb and forefinger close together to her mouth to mime shutting her mouth. 

Hank laughed softly. “That dog has never been quiet a day in his life,” he said jokingly. Alice glanced at the dog at her feet and patted the top of his head. “But I guess you're about as small as a mouse, so that works.”

Her face scrunched up, looking as indignant as a child android could. “I am not! I'm bigger than any mouse.”

“Oh yeah,” he said, poking at her. “So what does that make you? A rat?” 

She laughed at pushed his hands away. “You're mean.”

“Damn straight,” he said, walking towards the kitchen. He could hear Alice telling Sumo that they were going to have to plan their revenge on him once they got Connor back, but he stopped listening after that. Sometimes it was too hard to hear her talk like that. Like, even if they got Connor back, he would be just fine and normal and playful like always. Like he wouldn't be messed up and scarred and potentially an entirely different person. 

He envied the naivety of a child.

Kara and Luther were both sitting there at the kitchen table. Suddenly, it was like he was in high school all over again when he'd stumbled in late after curfew smelling like the floor of whatever bar he and his friends had managed to sneak into.

“Thanks for helping me out,” he said, his tone rough. He wasn't used to thanking people or being sorry for his behavior. It had felt like so long since someone had made him take that sort of responsibility for himself and his actions, and with that person gone it felt harder than ever.

“Anytime,” Luther said with a nod of his head.

Kara's eyes ran over him, scanning him for anything she might have missed earlier. “What happened, Hank?” She glanced towards the living room, lowering her voice so Alice couldn't hear. “Was it something about Connor? Did something happen?”

His temples throbbed at the thought of discussing all of this while his body was moving from 'still drunk' to 'hangover' territory. “In a way,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. His fingernails scratched it, perhaps too hard, bringing back the image of Connor's neck being stabbed. He left his hand fall away from his neck. “Detective Reed got some tests back from a case he'd been working on in connection to Connor's case.” This was the last thing he wanted to be talking about at the moment, but it felt wrong to not tell them. Especially not when Markus already knew. “There's been a new, stronger form of Red Ice on the streets lately, and apparently the thirium it's being made out of matches Connor's.”

The room was silent as everyone thought this over. How the hell could it be made from Connor's blood? There was no way he'd offer it willingly, which meant that someone had to be taking it from him against his will. 

But then there was that video... And he hadn't seemed to be against his will then.

“How long has this stuff been on the streets?” Luther asked.

Hank shrugged. “I'm not sure. I think it probably started to come out shortly after Connor was missing if Reed's right.”

Kara folded her hands in her lap, trying to stop the fidgeting they were doing above the table. “Does this mean someone took him because they _knew_ his blood was valuable, or was that something that they found out later?”

Again, Hank didn't have an exact answer. “It could be either one. Although, I'm not exactly sure how anyone would know his blood would react that way in Red Ice.”

“What does make it that way?” Luther asked. “I thought the thirium inside all of us was the same?”

“It is _going in_ ,” Hank said, feeling a touch defensive. It wasn't like the other android had meant for it to come out in such a way, but it had sounded as though he was othering Connor on a certain level. Like his blood was different in a potentially bad way from them. The same way people used to use in arguments against people with different skin tones and such things. Or that because androids had blue blood and humans had red blood that they couldn't possibly be the same. “But it seems that Connor being a prototype does more than make some of his parts hard to find.”

“I can't believe someone would use his blood like that,” Kara said softly.

Hank could feel himself balling up his own fists as he thought about it further. The rage he'd had earlier wasn't completely gone, but it had burned out to something much more exhausting. “You should hear how much of it there is on the streets,” he said, digging in nails into his palms. “It's a wonder they haven't bled him dry yet.”

The room was silent, clearly having no idea what to say to that. It seemed like the universe just loved to fuck with them and constantly throw them for surprise loops. Hank wondered what he must have done in a past life to deserve even half of this shit.

But none of this even compared to what Connor must be going through. Someone was draining him of his thirium, he'd potentially lost his memories, he was away from home... There was nothing that kid could've ever done to deserve anything like this.

“In a way this is good, though,” Luther said. Hank wanted to shake the man or smack him or something, even if the android could just knock him away with a single arm. There was no way any of this could possibly be compared to a good situation. The android must have fried his circuits or something. “Now you know for sure that you and Detective Reed are working the same case and can work on tracking down some of the androids from the gang, right?”

That was one way to look at it, he supposed. It was nice to have someone shackled to the same case he was, even if it was Gavin. 

“Yeah, I guess so. I'm hoping that we're gonna be able to catch one during a drop off, but until then we're kinda stuck again,” he said.

He ran a hand down his face and could smell the alcohol that was still coating his tongue and currently being sweat out through his pores. Definitely in need of a shower.

“I'm gonna go shower and probably just go back to sleep,” he said. “Best cure for a hangover is just to sleep through it.” He tried for a joke, although he could tell from the looks on the two androids' faces that it hadn't exactly worked.

“I'll leave something to eat in your room in case you change your mind,” Kara said. A thought ran through his mind, that he should probably tell her to stop helping him out so much and basically acting like a maid, but he doubted that it would have made a difference. She was a caring android with a big heart and while she was absolutely free to decide what it was she did with her life, her default settings were still sometimes to provide household duties to help people out. It felt wrong to take away her own way of coping.

He was definitely going to pay her, though.

“Thanks,” he said, waving his hand over his shoulder as he exited the kitchen.

Alice was crouched in the floor, her arms wrapped around Sumo's neck. She looked like a little kid who'd been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, obviously ease-dropping on their conversation.

“Hey, kid,” he said, attempting to keep his voice light. 

“I know you were talking about Connor,” she said, her face almost buried in Sumo's fur. “I know bad people took him and made him do those bad things he did.”

Something burned in Hank's stomach as he looked down at her. How did he explain any of this to a little girl who had already experienced far too much violence and hatred in her short life than anyone should ever have experienced?

What's worse, how did you explain it to her that even if they found Connor, he might not be the way she remembered him?

“You're a smart girl,” he said, his tone both a mix of bitterness and pride.

A small smile crept onto her face. “I want to be a detective when I grow up. Like you. And like Connor.”

It was a weird concept to remember that Alice would never actually grow up. It was like even _she_ could sometimes forget that and think about the things that she would do when she was older.

Maybe she was programmed to think like that. Or maybe she was just that naive. 

A pang went through him. Cole had never wanted to be a detective. He'd said that looking at all the evidence day in and day out was boring. He'd wanted to be a dinosaur, a fire fighter, an expert tree climber, and a dog all at different points in his short life. He wondered if he'd been allowed to grow up if he would have decided to become a detective like his old man.

He would have discouraged the hell out of him, tried everything under the sun to stop him if he had. His knowledge of the job and his fear for what could have happened to Cole had he taken the same path seemed justified however, if one considered what had happened to Connor.

“You and him could be the first android partners,” he said. He could hear how wet his voice was becoming, the tears barely staying at bay.

“That's the plan,” she said with a nod. Like it was fact. This was what was going to happen.

“So what, you two team up and I'm just left behind?” he asked.

She looked him over before shaking her head. “You'd probably be our boss or something. Or you could be in charge of Sumo! Someone has to watch him while we're out solving crimes.”

Hank resisted the urge to point out that he was _already_ in charge of Sumo, as he was his dog. It seemed like a moot point considering Alice would likely ignore this fact and Sumo did follow Connor around like he was a walking, talking steak bone.

“I think that would be a perfect job for me,” he said. “I'm sure when we find him, he'll love it.”


	21. Chapter 21

It was nearly a week later before Cole saw Jesse again. Just as he'd begun to think that his friend had forgotten all about him and the promise she had made, she'd returned to him, hurrying into his room as if she were being chased by a rabid dog.

“Jesse?” he asked, watching as she slammed his door closed. Her clothes were completely black, as well as the beanie she had shoved down over her blonde hair. A back pack was strung across her back, something she quickly threw to the floor and began shoving Cole's few belongings into.

“What are you doing?” he asked, sitting up on the bed. The world spun around in dizzying dark colors for a moment, the lack of thirium keeping him from reacting too fast. With Travis taking thirium from him all the time, it was rare that he ever felt like he was a at full power anymore.

“We're leaving,” she said simply. Her hands reached out and grabbed onto the picture of the four of them, pausing to look at it for a moment. Something dark passed over her face as she shoved the picture into the bag as well. “Change into these.” She tossed him a maroon colored hoodie and a pair of dark jeans. “That's all I could get in your size without anyone noticing.”

He looked down at the clothes in his lap in confusion. Without hesitating, he pull on the hoodie and tried to shimmy into the jeans while sitting down. “Why are we leaving? Where are we going?”

A quick glance around the room told her that she'd packed up everything he owned, which sadly wasn't much. Her head swiveled back to him, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones. “I've got to get you out of here. We're going to go somewhere safe, but we need to hurry.”

He tried to stand up to put his shoes on and nearly toppled over. Standing was so much harder to do when you were so low on thirium. How low was he now? He hadn't checked in a while, as it seemed like Travis kept him at around the same amount and it rarely mattered.

A hand on his arm quickly steadied him. “I got you,” Jesse said quietly, helping him into his shoes and out the door. It was late, there didn't seem to be anyone else still awake at this time. Were they running away?

Cole wanted to ask her more questions, but he didn't dare, for fear of whatever was chasing Jesse from her home might suddenly find them. It must be terrifying to chase the normally fearless girl from her own home. 

The lobby was also empty, which was a bit stranger than the hallways. Usually there was at least some late-night game of poker happening or androids gathered around telling stories to each other. A deep pain made itself known in his thirium pump as it sped up. It'd been so long since he'd been allowed to participate in any of those things. He wondered if anyone had even missed him.

The ladder was a challenge. The entire time he was climbing up it he felt like he was going to fall, like his arms might randomly collapse and send him sprawling down to the cement floor below.

Part of him feared it happening. The other part of him felt like it already had.

XXX

“I think we might have a tip about one of the drop locations the gang has been using,” Gavin said, cautiously approaching Hank's desk.

His hair was wild, and the normal stubble on his chin had almost grown into a full beard. It looked as it he had aged ten years in the short amount of time he'd been working on Connor's case with him.

Hank stretched his arm out for the file. They'd been staking out a new place almost every day, yet all of them seemed to have been a bust. If the locations they had been to were a cover up for some drug smuggling ring then they had been _very good_ cover ups.

“What's this one look like? Another strip club?” he asked, snark oozing out of his tone.

“Look, that seemed like a reliable tip at the time,” Gavin said, his face turning slightly red.

“I'm sure it did, pervert,” Hank said. He flipped through some of the screens before pulling up a picture of the location. It seemed just like a dumpster, a dumpster that could be in any alley in any city anywhere in the US.

“It seems like the people of this neighborhood are pretty anti-android, so they noticed her pretty quickly. Apparently, she's been visiting this dumpster almost every day for a week now, tossing shit in and digging shit out,” Gavin said. “Eye-witnesses said that they probably wouldn't have said anything about it and would've just taken care of the issue themselves, but with the video going around...” He trailed off, allowing Hank to fill in the blanks.

There were plenty of people now who still wanted to 'teach androids a lesson' but were too scared to do it, whether that was because of the laws now in place or because of the video of Connor beating that man wasn't always clear.

“Anyways, they said that they recognized her model, one of those Chloes. Seems like she could be the girl from the video,” he said.

“And the pictures you got earlier in the case,” Hank said, thinking back to the blonde android from before. “This is probably the best we're gonna get.” He stood up, grabbing his coat as he did so. Without waiting to make sure Gavin was following him, he began to head for his car. It had become a habit of theirs to use Hank's car for stakeouts. In Gavin's words 'there was no need to dirty up his car when Hank's already looked like a trash can.'

The city was quiet as the two of them drove over, something that seemed like a rare occurrence lately. A feeling in the pit of his stomach told him he should question it, although he didn't want to. For once he just wanted things to work out the way they were supposed to.

Fall had truly come to Detroit. There were few changing leaves in the city, as they didn't have many trees, and there weren't many festive decorations on this part of town, as most of the people here were barely scraping by or spending all of their money on drugs. But what this part of town lacked in atmosphere, it made up for in weather. The air was cool and the winds were strong, reminding Hank of a simpler time when he'd been a child scared of shadows on the moon and witches in the wind.

Now he feared things that were real, like drug dealers and losing family members.

“Do you really think that she's going to show up tonight?” Hank asked as he parked his car. His beat-up car easily blended in with the rest of the run-down buildings and cars. 

Gavin shrugged as he put his feet up on the dashboard. “Dunno. Witnesses said that she's been here almost every night so far, there's no reason to think that she won't show up tonight.” His eyes scanned over Hank's face from his position. “What do you think?”

Nervous fingers drummed on the steering wheel. “I think this seems too easy,” Hank said. “They've been so careful to cover their tails before now, why would they keep the same dumpster night after night? Especially after what happened at the chop-shop.”

Gavin shrugged, not having an exact answer. “Maybe it's because of what happened at the chop-shop. Maybe they're panicking.”

“Yeah,” Hank said, rubbing his hand across his beard. “The question is: why?”

XXX

The night air was cold on his artificial skin as he emerged from the sewer. He'd never felt the air this cold before, as he'd only experienced summer. It was nice, the cold breeze giving him something else to focus on and helping to cool his overly-heated body. His lack of thirium was running his body into the ground, burning up what parts of it it could before it stopped completely.

“Come on,” Jesse said, pulling his arm over her shoulder. She might be small, but with her as his crutch, he could walk a lot easier and cover so much more ground. “We've gotta get out of here.”

As they walked, Cole noticed the neighborhood they were moving into wasn't on the best side of town. They'd been there before, dropping off some of whatever was usually kept inside the backpacks, but he'd never been afraid before. Before there had been four, able-bodied androids walking down the street near dusk. Now it was just two androids with only one of them being able to be anywhere near considered “able-bodied” in the middle of the night.

“We're going to have to go to one of our old drops,” Jesse said. “We can meet up with a friend there and have them help get us to safety.”

“Safety?” Cole asked, the confusion in his voice obvious. “What's going on? Why'd we run away from the hotel?”

Her grip on his arm tightened, her eyes hardening. It was scary to see her like this. “Because that place wasn't safe, Cole. Believe me.”

He shook his head, regretting the action when it made the world spin around a bit. None of this was making sense. “Of course it was! We were safe from humans there, able to be who we want to be.” He looked around the neighborhood, taking in a few of the anti-android signs hanging in their windows or staked out on their front lawns. “Out here, we're nothing.”

“You call bleeding you dry until you're too tired to move being able to be who you want to be!?” she shouted, her voice echoing throughout the neighborhood. The urge to 'sshh' her or to tell her to lower her voice was strong, but he ignored it. It was obvious that she needed to get rid of some of these negative emotions. “And I'm not _nothing_. And neither are you.”

He began to recognize the area around them more and more as the drop location grew closer. “I didn't mean it like that,” he said lowly. “I know you're not nothing.” He watched as his feet shuffled down the street, urged forward by her. “Travis said that something might be wrong with me. That's why he's been taking my thirium and why I needed to stay away from you guys.”

She still as they reached the drop spot. His weight was quickly shifted to lean up against the dumpster they were standing near. Tears were pooling in her eyes as she forced him to look her in the eyes. It was like he had said something to purposefully hurt her. 

“You really believe that, don't you?” she asked. “You really believe that he just wants to help you.”

Something rose up inside of him. It was painful and strong, forcing him to clench his fists. _Doubt_. “I _know_ he wants to help me. That's what _you_ told me!”

A hand ran through her hair, knocking her beanie off. Words tumbled from her mouth, too low and fast for Cole to actually pick them out. “Fuck,” she said eventually, “I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, I never meant for any of this to happen to you.”

He scrunched his brows, looking all over her face for a sign of what she might be talking about. “What are you saying?”

A white, plastimetal hand reached towards him, her way of explaining. He also reached towards her, their hands mere inches away when a booming voice yelled from behind them.

_“Freeze! Detroit Police!”_

Jesse and Cole both listened to the command, their eyes locked onto each other. A bright light shone from behind his back, washing out all of the color from Jesse until she was nearly a ghost against a black background.

_“Run,_ ” Cole told her cybernetically. 

_“What!?”_ she practically yelled. _“I'm not going to leave you.”_

_“I can't run,”_ he said, thinking about his low thirium levels and how they'd never allow him to escape. Plus, the low levels of thirium had affected his ability to heal, which had caused his knee to heal at nearly humanistic speeds and thus was still a bit wonky. Running on it now would likely only cause him pain and still end up with him caught. _“But I can hold them back for you.”_

She hesitated for just moment, although it felt like an eternity. For a second he was sure that she was going to ignore him, to stay exactly where she was and go down with him. 

But it seemed that she really did understand.

Her hand darted forward, quickly grabbing onto his arm. A location was quickly transferred to him, the place that she was planning on hiding out at until he could find her. _“Come find me,”_ she said. 

“ _Promise,_ ” he said.

And with that, she turned around a ran, leaving him standing in the alley with the police.


	22. Chapter 22

It turns out that they didn't have to wait too long for the android to show up. And she'd brought a friend.

They'd only been waiting for around an hour when the blonde android had come trudging up to the dumpster, a male android practically draped over her shoulders. It was obvious that he was hurt and damaged somehow, although it wasn't entirely clear how from their vantage point.

The two of them seemed to be talking, although it was slightly hard to tell from the distance they were parked. “Should we go in?” Gavin asked, placing his hand on his seat belt and his door handle.

Hank watched the two of them, taking in everything that he could see from there. They seemed to be arguing with each other over something. The blonde android dragged a hand through her hair, knocking off the beanie and confirming for Hank that she was a Chloe model android. The other android kept his maroon hood up, his back facing them the entire time.

“Now,” Hank said. Seeing her was all the confirmation that he needed to move in.

A moment later and they were both charging towards the two androids, warnings falling from their lips and guns drawn. Both of the androids seemed to be surprised that they were there, clearly having expected someone else to be coming.

It was only a second later that the blond android darted away, leaving the male android behind. 

“Hey!” Gavin shouted, chasing after her.

He didn't make it very far, though. Before either one of them could react the male android had grabbed him by the back of his hoodie and pulled him back, slamming into his nose with his elbow as he did so. The detective dropped to the ground, clutching his bleeding nose with a grumble of curses as he did so.

“Put your hands up!” Hank yelled. “You're under arrest for assaulting a police officer.”

The android places his hands in the air. At about the same time he did, his legs gave way, sending him hurtling towards the ground.

Gavin reached out, catching him before he could fully hit the ground. Hank's eyebrows nearly shot into his hair line at the almost gentle way Gavin rearranged him onto his lap, attempting to keep his head from the ground. His hand instantly went to the spot in the middle of an android's chest where their pump was located.

“What the hell?” Hank asked, barely able to hold back his surprised tone. Gavin's eyes were wide as he looked up at Hank, shock written all over his face. It looked like the poor idiot had saw a ghost.

“It's Connor,” he whispered.

And as the hood fell back Hank finally saw him.

His LED was circling red, faster than Hank had ever seen it. That was the first thing Hank noticed. It seemed like a such a small thing considering all that had happened.

Immediately, he dropped to his knees, reaching out to grab a hold of Connor. Gavin easily slid him towards him until he was sprawled in his lap, his right arm supporting his head. Shaking fingers brushed the dangling hair back from Connor's face as he whispered to him.

“Connor? Connor are you okay?” he asked, his voice softer and way more gentle than Gavin had ever heard it before.

“I'll call for an ambulance,” Gavin said, still holding his bleeding nose. “I'll make sure to tell them it's for an android.”

Hank didn't even acknowledge him, barely even noticed he'd spoke. All he could see was Connor.

He seemed paler than usual. Androids were maintained through the thirium they pumped through their bodies, and if that thirium was too low they sometimes lost the ability to maintain their “uncanny valley” filter, which could sometimes result in their skin turning translucent or disappearing. It seemed wrong to see that white peaking through his skin.

There was also the damage to the back of his neck that still hadn't seemed to heal yet. Probably because of a lack of thirium as well.

Was that why he was out like he was? Because of a lack of thirium? Was that the only thing wrong with him? If they got some into him, would he be fine?

“Hey, buddy,” Hank said, patting his face. “I need you to wake up now. We've been looking all over for you.” Tears spilled over and poured down his face, dripping onto Connor's as he did so. The false tears ran down, almost as if Connor was the one crying.

“You're gonna be okay,” he said. “I swear, you're gonna be okay. We're gonna get you some more thirium and you'll be fine. You'll be okay, you'll be okay, _you'll be okayyou'llbeokayyou'llbeokay._ ”

He repeated it over and over and over again until he could feel Gavin place a hand on his shoulder. “They're sending an ambulance out to us now.”

Hank nodded, brushing his thumb across Connor's cheek. Why the hell did they make androids so life-like? Did they have to give him freckles and moles and imperfections so that he basically looked like any human on the street? So that he looked like _Cole_.

Another damn broke inside him. He'd tried to hold it back but it burst. This was just like seeing Cole's broken and limp body being pulled from the wreckage. He remembered holding him, telling him that he was going to be okay, and that they were going to get him fixed right up...

“I'm sorry,” he said, his voice muffled with tears. “I'm sorry we didn't find you sooner.”

Slowly, so slowly Hank almost didn't notice it, Connor's eyes opened. They were glazed, and not completely focused, but they were open.

“Connor?” he asked, hope springing forward in his chest.

“I-I'm s-s-sorry Travis,” he said. His eyes were staring up into Hank's, but they clearly weren't seeing him. He was seeing someone else, someone who he felt the need to apologize to, which was ridiculous. “I'm sorry.”

“Hey, no, no Connor,” he said, brushing a hand through the kid's hair again. “There's nothing to be sorry for.”

The android's brows furrowed, confusion plain to see on his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he had a chance to he passed back out.

XXX

 

“This is such bullshit,” Hank muttered under his breath. Fowler rolled his eyes, pretending he didn't hear him. “I said this is bullshit, Jeffery!”

“I heard you, Hank,” he said, rolling his eyes again. “And I heard you the first twenty times.”

Hank slapped his hand against the wall next to him, looking way from the two-way mirror. “Apparently fucking not! If you had, he wouldn't be sleeping in a fucking interrogation room! You wouldn't make a human sleep in there!”

“He's got a bed, Hank. It's not like we're making him sleep on the floor,” he said reasonably. “Besides, what exactly would you have us do otherwise? All of the android holding cells are currently occupied, and we can't send him to any hospital in the city or else someone from the media might find him.”

Hank looked back through the mirror, taking in Connor's resting form. His body had apparently entered into a 'low power mode' due to his massively low thirium levels, which weren't helped by his fast movements he'd used against Reed. An IV was connected, trying to quickly replace the lost thirium, although it was still probably going to be a while before he woke up.

“He could go to New Jericho,” Hank offered. At least there the kid would be treated with care and respect among his friends and his own people. Not shoved into an interrogation room like a dog at an over flowing kennel.

Jeffery shot him a side-eyed glare. “We can't let him go there, and you know that. He's part of an on-going investigation, as well as the charges brought against him by Leeds. Plus, he broke Reed's nose. He's staying here until we get some answers. Then we might decide something different.”

Hank grumbled under his breath again. He understood why he'd been sent to stay in the interrogation room, but he still didn't like it.

Before the revolution, they'd had no need to use any other cells than the one's they had. Touch-panels that only unlocked to officers and glass viewing windows were the standard lock and key and bars system up until the revolution. Androids had no reason to commit a crime and thus had no reason to be held by police, and even if they had had a reason, they never would've been able to open the door without finger prints. 

Then the revolution had happened and android criminals were just as common as human criminals, which meant that they needed a place to hold them as well. A place with a panel that they couldn't just hack into.

These cells were like older ones, with the bars and an old fashioned key. Refitting police stations with them again had been expensive, however, and thus had left them with fewer android holding cells.

Which is why Connor was sleeping in the interrogation room. It was one of the only doors that also had an old fashioned lock on it as well as a panel. Even if he got through the panel, he'd never make it past the lock. At least that was the hope.

They're managed to shove a small bed inside there, at Hank's insistence, and cram it against the far wall, part of it still brushing up against the table still in the room. It looked de-humanizing to see him sleeping in a room like that, when he usually slept in the living room with the TV on and Sumo stretched out across his legs.

“How long did they say until he wakes up?” Hank asked, his focusing on Connor. 

Fowler shrugged. “They estimated between two to four hours. That should be enough time for his thirium to be replenished and for his systems to reboot.”

He glanced at him out of the corner of his eyes. “And did they technicians notice anything... _strange_ with his memory?”

Fowler gave him a sideways glance of his own. “No. They didn't seem to think there was any recent damage to his processors. They did detect damage from what looks like a few months back, but neither one of them seemed to be convinced that it could be the true cause of his potential memory problems.”

He let out a frustrated sigh. If there wasn't enough damage to his processors then what _was_ actually wrong with him? 

“You should at least go get something to eat,” Fowler said, his eyes showing concern and not for the first time that night. “It'll be a while before he wakes up, and even when he does, you're not going in there.”

Hank twisted around, grabbing onto his arm. “What!? What do you mean I'm not going in there?” he asked. “Of course I am! The only reason I'm staying out of there right now is because you threatened to throw me out of the building.” He shook his arm. “I played your game, I sat in here behind the window. But when the kid wakes up, I'm going in there.”

“Hank, he's clearly confused and probably scared,” he said, trying to reason with him.

“Exactly! That's why I should go in there!”

“No, I don't think so,” he said, shaking his head. “You go in there, talking like you know him, like he's you _son_ and you could confuse him even more. And I don't want to see your face if he doesn't recognize you.”

There. He'd said it. It was brutal and honest, but at least he'd had the guts to say it to him. Everyone else had sort of side-stepped the question about Connor's memories, saying that if they were affected they might not be totally damaged or saying that it would just take time to tell what the problem was. Hank knew Fowler didn't exactly care what the problem was, only that it didn't end up hurting their witness (who happened to be a criminal and their coworker) or their Lieutenant.

Not that Hank cared about any of that. This was what he'd been hoping for for months. There was no way that he was going to let anything stand between him and Connor anymore. He'd let him down enough, no one was going to separate his son from him again.

“At least let us send in someone else first, get a feel for how he's doing. Then you can go in,” Fowler said.

Hank sighed again, nodding his head. “Fine. But I'm going in regardless of whatever happens. He doesn't deserve to be alone after all of this.”

“I know,” Fowler said, his voice low.

“He was fucking _kidnapped,_ Jeffery. Do you understand that? They stole him away while he was basically _with_ me. They attacked him then, and now they've been taking his blood and using him, I _know it_ ,” Hank's said, his voice cracking. It wasn't fair that all of this had happened to Connor, hell, this shit shouldn't happen to _anyone_.

“I know,” Fowler said, again. He placed a hand on Hank's shoulder, trying to give him any reassurance that he understood, that he could completely understand where he was coming from and why this was so important. He knew that Hank blamed himself for Connor's disappearance, just the same way he'd blamed himself for Cole's death, and no amount of reassuring words was going to change that any time soon.

“He survived a fucking _revolution_ , was a major player it, and _this_ is what happens to him? He gets _kidnapped_ and is now sleeping in a fucking interrogation room?” Hank said.

“Go,” Fowler said, pushing Hank towards the door. “Go get some food or coffee or something. I'll stand right here with him. I'll make sure nothing happens to him. But you need to get some air.”

Of course he was right, Hank realized as he stepped out into the hall. The room had began to feel as if it were closing in on him, tightening and tightening until it felt like his chest might explode. The hallway, with it's better lighting and obscured view of Connor, was infinitely better, even if it did leave him feeling guilty for being away from him.

He set an alarm on his phone to alert him when his two hours would be up. 

He thought about calling Markus or Kara and letting them know what had happened. He was sure that they would be excited about any news in regards to Connor's situation, but he wasn't sure exactly what he should say. All they knew so far was that he'd been found, attacked Reed, and passed out in an alley. It was hardly a reassuring conversation to have with someone.

Eventually, he resigned himself to calling Markus. He could tell Kara and Luther when he got home, but right now it seemed more important for the revolution leader to be there. Markus had plenty of connections through other androids and technicians that would probably come in handy for figuring out what was wrong with Connor. 

“Hey, Markus, it's Hank,” he said. “We found Connor, but I'm gonna need some help.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for being MIA this month. I got a new job, which has been great but stressful, and that means I've also been working two jobs. Hopefully, with me leaving my old job within the next two weeks I'll have more time to write! Thank you to everyone who's left kind comments on this and given it kudos. You guys are amazing and my inspiration!


	23. Chapter 23

The room he woke up in was not his own, nor was it the infirmary at the hotel. 

The walls were painted gray and made out of cement. There was a desk and two chairs inside the middle of the room, and a long mirror on one wall. An IV drip pole was next to him, although this time it was filtering in thirium instead of taking it away.

Gingerly, he sat up, his systems recalibrating to a sitting position as well as to all of the new thirium he wasn't used to functioning with anymore.

**> THIRIUM_LEVEL_99_PERCENT**

That was more than enough for him, he decided, and worked on taking the IV out. A beeping noise came from the machine next to him as he did so, its piercing screech enough to hurt his sensitive hearing.

A second later two men walked in, one of them with a bandage on his nose, the other dressed in regular police attire. Both of them looked startled to see him, or maybe to see him awake, and the officer seemed to be concerned about the noise. 

A technician in scrubs walked in behind them, barely even pausing as she turned off the machine. She was clearly an android, as she quickly scanned Cole and gave him the all clear, before leaving again.

“Jesus Christ,” the man with the bandage on his nose said. “We thought you were dying.”

The man's voice was familiar. The image of the alley popped up into his mind, the sound of the police arriving and separating him and Jesse. This had been the man whose nose he had managed to smash in before the world had gone dark.

No wonder he looked at Cole with such intense emotions. Cole could say he felt the same way.

“My name is Detective Gavin Reed,” he said, his voice sounding nasally from his broken nose. “This is Officer Chris Miller.” He waved over to the police officer beside him. The officer gave him a halfhearted wave as the detective settled in at the table, the officer instead choosing to stand next to the door.

The door had a panel on it that Cole was sure he could easily hack. It also had a heavy-duty lock on it that he wasn't so sure he'd be able to break through.

“We'd like to talk to you, if that's okay,” Detective Reed said. There was something in his tone and the way he looked at Cole that made him feel strange. It was like the man wasn't used to doing this, although it was clear that he was an established detective. Maybe he just wasn't used to doing this with an android. Androids who could be interviewed like people were still rather new, he supposed.

The human gestured to the chair sitting across from him, which Cole took. He resisted the urge to flinch as the chair scraped across the concrete floor, sending a shrill sound into the air.

“Can you tell us your name?” he asked.

Cole stayed silent.

“I said, can you tell us your name?”

Moments passed, the silence almost deafening to those in there. Cole wasn't even sure why he was staying quiet, as he hadn't done anything. Other than strike the detective, which had only happened because he'd tried to catch Jesse too. Their kind hadn't always had the best luck with police officers.

Detective Reed tilted his head, trying to get a better look at his face. “Can you hear me?” 

Still, he didn't respond. 

“Shit,” Detective Reed said, running a hand through his hair. “They said he was fine!” He turned his head back to Chris, annoyance clear in his voice. This somehow seemed more like him than the persona he had been trying to pull off before, although Cole wasn't sure why he thought that. It's not like he'd ever met the man before. “Tell that technician that if she don't do her damn job right this time, we're gonna fire her.” He paused as he thought for a moment. “Or worse, set Anderson on her.”

Cole's head jerked up in response to the name. He wasn't sure why, but he felt like it was familiar. Like he'd heard it before. And maybe he had. It was possible that they had mentioned the name back at the hotel, or maybe he'd heard it while they were out and about on runs.

Or maybe it was something he remembers. Something from his life from before.

Detective Reed froze as he watched Cole's reaction. It seemed that he had also notice his strange reaction to the name.

“Can you hear me?” he asked again, slowing his words down a tad bit, like Cole might have a slow processor.

There didn't seem to be a point in lying anymore. He nodded his head, keeping his head tilted down, although his eyes never left the detectives.

“Do you know where you are?” the detective asked.

Cole glanced away, his eyes roaming over Officer Miller's uniform. DPD. So he was still in Detroit. Not that he'd figured the police who had taken him had brought him somewhere else, but you never knew. This room must be an interrogation room, then, as it was exactly as he imagined it would be, although it was strange to see a bed inside it.

“The police department,” Cole said, his voice full of static. It was quiet, barely there, but the two men in the room seemed to have heard him.

“Do you know why you're here?” Detective Reed asked.

Cole shook his head no. No, he really didn't. Travis had implied that there had been some stuff that went down on Jesse and his last run, but he'd never gotten a clear picture of what exactly had happened. It was enough for them to hide Cole away in his room, however, and apparently for a good reason.

The detective clicked on the tablet in front of him. “Do you recognize this bag?” he asked.

Cole glanced down. The bag was one he was used to seeing. Jesse's. It had come with them on plenty of runs before that he was sure he'd recognize it anywhere. The last time he'd seen it, however, it had been full of his stuff and on Jesse's back.

“We picked it up a few blocks over where the android you were with dropped it.” The screen changed, another image coming up. All of his belongings were marked and tagged as evidence, with yellow numbers next to them. He tried to ignore the stabbing pain in his chest as he looked at everything he owned displayed in front of him. “One of our guys got it before she could stash it.”

Cole looked back up, staring into the man's eyes. He didn't say anything, just stared him down.

“Do you recognize these things?” he asked, clearly angling for something.

Cole shook his head. Deny, deny, deny.

“Oh, really?” he asked. He zoomed in on one of the pieces of evidence, the photo of him and Jesse and Ash and Jack. Back when they'd been happy. “So this isn't you, here in this photo?”

Cole risked a glance down, taking in his friends' faces one more time. He wondered if he'd see them again. “No.” His voice was stronger now, the static completely gone.

“You sure? Are you absolutely positive that that ain't you?” he asked, tapping the screen again. It increased the photo, until his face was the only thing on screen. “Really?”

Cole could feel his stress levels rising and willed them to go back down. “Really.”

The man's face twitched with anger. He leaned back in his chair, trying to compose himself before he could lose it. “Come on, Connor, we know it's you! You're the only RK800 model out there anymore,” he said.

It was Cole's turn to tilt his head to the side. Had this detective lost his mind?

“Look, we just need to know what you were doing out there, okay?” he asked, running a hand through his hair. “If you can tell us that then Anderson can come in here and talk with you.”

That name triggered something deep within Cole's memories, but it wasn't enough to bring anything up. He didn't want anyone to come in here and talk with him, though. He wanted to leave. He wanted to be able to leave and find Jesse and make sure that she was safe. The last time he'd seen her she'd been so scared and nothing made sense anymore.

“And then I can leave?” Cole asked. “I answer your questions, and then I can leave?”

Detective Reed tapped his fingers against the desk once, twice, three times. “It's not that easy,” he began, but Cole cut him off.

“I answer your questions, and _then I leave?”_ he asked, forcing his voice a little louder on the last part. He needed to get out of here, and he needed to do it soon. Someone had probably already noticed that he and Jesse were gone. It was only a matter of time before someone went looking for them.

A glance was thrown towards the mirror, likely a two-way mirror Cole realized. There was someone watching them from the other side of the mirror, then. He wondered if it was this Anderson person that Detective Reed kept mentioning.

“Connor,” he said, sighing the name as if it was out of habit more than actual annoyance. “I can't promise you that. But I can promise you that if you help us, then we'll do our best to help you.”

Jesse's scared face flashed in front of him. He had an idea of where to go, but no way to actually get there or any idea of what would be waiting for him if he managed to get there. Would it be so bad to have someone else backing him up as he went to find his friend? Maybe someone a little nicer than Detective Reed, like Officer Miller in the corner, but still, someone who could help him.

As if sensing that the mood in the room had changed from angry to resigned, he continued. “Do you recognize this bag?”

Cole rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

“Do you recognize the things in this bag?” 

“Yes.”

“Do you know the androids in this photo?”

Cole glanced down at the photo again. His friends' faces smile at him. “Yes.”

Detective Reed paused, looking at Cole. “Can you name the androids in the picture?”

“Yes.”

The human was clearly resisting the urge to roll his eyes out of frustration. Just because Cole was going to do this, doesn't mean he was going to make it easy on him.

“Who is this?” he asked, pointing to Jack.

“Jack.”

“And this?”

“Ash.”

“And this?”

A pause. “Jesse.”

“And she was the one with you last night? The one who took off?” he asked, like it was a bad thing that she had ran. Like they knew anything about them.

“Yes.”

It was like the human could tell that he wasn't going to get much further with that line of questioning. He looked at Cole, his eyes looking over his face. He was sure that if the detective possessed them that he would have already been scanned multiple times already.

“How long have you known them?” he asked. “The androids in the picture.”

Cole gave a small shrug. It wasn't like he'd been keeping track of everything that had happened to him since he'd woken up. “A few months.”

He nodded and tapped something onto the other tablet near his right hand. It was impossible to read from Cole's angle, however.

“How did you meet them?” he asked.

Cole narrowed his eyes, glaring at the detective. It wasn't any of his business who he knew or how he knew them. 

“Never mind, we'll come back to that,” Detective Reed said, holding up his hands as if Cole had planned on jumping him if he didn't back off. Hell, maybe Cole had deep down.

“When we confronted you, you had a dangerously low amount of thirium,” Detective Reed said. “Can you explain that?”

He couldn't help the glance he did in the direction of the IV pole that still hung in the room. It was obvious to him now that the police must have worked on replenishing his thirium supply, or else he wouldn't have likely made it this far, but it still made him uneasy. He didn't want to risk ever running that low again, not even for Travis or the gang.

It was obvious that the detective wasn't moving on from the question, which meant that he was going to have to answer it. “Something's wrong with me.”

The detective leaned forward, interest sparking in his sharp eyes. “Wrong with you? What do you mean?”

Cole shrugged. Even he wasn't sure exactly what was wrong with him. “He wouldn't say. Just said that he needed to run some tests on me.”

“Who's he?” Detective Reed asked, leaning forward even further.

There was no way he was giving up that information. He shook his head, letting the human know that he wasn't going to tell him that. 

“Okay, that's fine,” he said, although it was clear that it wasn't. “What do you think is wrong? Why do you think someone would wanna take your thirium from you?”

Broken flashes of memories played. A dog running through a park. Snow falling in heavy drifts even though he'd never seen it before. A little girl talking to him, clearly saying his name over and over again to get his attention, even though he couldn't understand what she was saying. 

The uneasy feeling he'd had when he'd first looked at Detective Reed returned, stronger than ever. He was sure that he'd known the man before, and it hadn't been on the best of terms.

He shook his head, pushing the memories aside. If they weren't going to be helpful, then they were just going to get in the way. “I,” he trailed off of a moment, hesitating to tell the human. “I have problems with my memories, sometimes. I've had to be reset before.”

The human froze, his hand hovering over the tablet to his right. Despite the man's attitude, he clearly hadn't been expecting that answer.

“Connor,” he said, and then bit his lip. “What's your name?” He looked towards the mirror again, his concern, almost scared look reflected back at the two of them.

Cole sat up a little bit straighter, hoping to draw some confidence from the posture. “What does it matter?”

“Please,” the man said. Despite not knowing him Cole knew this to be uncharacteristic of the detective. “Just tell me your name.”

“Cole,” he said, trying to look the detective in the eyes. The detective, however, had whipped his head around to the mirror so fast that whiplash seemed likely. Cole looked in that direction, hoping that he was making eye contact with whoever had decided to stand behind the mirror rather than face him. “My name is Cole. I picked it out myself.”


	24. Chapter 24

Reed and Chris left the room almost immediately afterwards. Hank was sure they'd excused themselves from Connor, or at least said something as they took off, but Hank hadn't heard any of it. He hadn't heard anything since the android had revealed his name to them.

Cole. The kid though his name was Cole. And he'd even picked it for himself.

The universe was a bitch. A big, fucking bitch that liked to fuck everyone over and then leave them to fend for themselves. God, or whatever was watching over them, must be laughing up above, watching this drama play out with some sick sense of perversion that only they could find hilarious.

“Hank?” Gavin said, reaching a hand out for him. Hank shoved his hand away, staring at Connor- or Cole, as he'd apparently labeled himself.

That was his _kid's name._ His _son's name_. Connor very rarely even said Cole's name, for fear that it might send Hank back down into another spiral, so there was no way the android that had just so casually said Cole's name like it was nothing was him. It couldn't possibly be true. Connor wouldn't do such a thing.

Maybe it really wasn't Connor in there. Maybe it was another model who was similar enough to pass all the tests that it just read as Connor.

Or maybe it was Connor and he'd been so fucked up that his memory would never be the same. Why else would he call himself Cole?

“Don't fucking touch me,” Hank said. He wasn't even sure what he was feeling at this point. Anger, rage, hopelessness, sorrow, they all seemed like good contenders but none of them were winning. It was like loosing Cole all over again, except this time he was also loosing Connor. 

Nothingness seemed like the best description for his feelings, because how could there be anything left to feel when everything you love had been taken from you?

“Hank,” Markus said, holding up both of his hands so that the human could see that he had no intentions of touching him. “We're gonna figure this out, alright?”

A bitter bark of laughter escaped from Hank's lips. “What's to figure out? That's not Connor. He even said so himself,” he said. Maybe if he hardened his heart against all of this, it would hurt less. Maybe it wouldn't feel like he'd been punched in the stomach.

“Yes, I heard him,” Markus said, a pained look evident on his face. The passing of a child was not something anyone should ever had to deal with once, much less a second time like he knew Hank was likely experiencing. “But Hank, this might be a good thing.”

He whirled around and glared at Markus, the coldest look in his eyes possible. If looks could kill, Markus would have been stabbed repeatedly already. “How is any of this fucking good, Markus?”

“He remembers something,” Markus said. “He said he chose the name Cole, which means he remembered it even after being reset.” He looked through the window, to see the android with Connor's face sitting there. He was still sitting in the chair he'd been interviewed in, picking at his artificial fingernails. “There might be more of him left in there.”

Hank's chest rose and fell with quick, angry breathes for a few moments longer before his shoulders slumped, and he seemed to sink into himself. Fuck Markus for being logical at a time like this. All Hank wanted to do was chug as much alcohol as possible in the next thirty minutes and then sleep the rest of the year away.

“Could you bring him back?” Gavin asked, uncertainty in his voice. He glanced at Hank warily, as if he were afraid someone else would punch him in his already broken nose. “If there is more of him left, could you bring him back?”

Markus stared through the window, a look of contemplation on his face. All of the research he'd done in trying to figure out how to repair processors or restore memories seemed to have come before the revolution, which meant that most of the information was from hapless humans who had reset the androids on accident and needed it to remember menial things like where the car keys had been placed or what time an appointment was. There was still very little research on what to do if a deviant had been reset, as it was almost like amnesia to humans, which was tricky in and of itself.

“I would do my best,” Markus said. He turned his eyes to Hank, taking in the broken man. “But I would need permission first.”

“I doubt he's going to give you permission,” Gavin said. “He's even more stubborn than he usually is.” There was almost a hint of fondness in his tone, something Markus was surprised to hear. Perhaps the two of them were more alike than either Gavin or Connor ever wanted to admit.

“It's not so much _his_ permission I would need, although that would still be required,” Markus said. He still stared at Hank, his eyes never leaving his. “He's your partner, and almost like your ward. You're his emergency contact so I technically also require your permission in this situation.”

There was nothing more in the world that Hank wanted right then than to have Connor get his memories back, but he was still worried. What if they tried and it didn't work? What if there really was no hope to get his memories back? Would this person with his dead son's name and his other son's face just get to keep walking around? 

He opened and closed his mouth several times, but nothing came out. What could he really say? Eventually he nodded, giving his permission as best he could to Markus.

“Do you want to come in with me?” Markus asked. “It might make it easier for his memories if there is something comforting and familiar with him at the time.” That, and Markus was afraid of what might happen if he left Hank.

Eventually, Hank nodded again, following along behind the android into the interrogation room. He froze as he stood in the same room as Connor (because he _refused_ to call him Cole) and took in those same big, brown eyes that he was so familiar with.

A frown came to the android's face as he met Hank's eyes,his mouth opening as if to say something, but it was cut off as his eyes slid over to Markus. His frown deepened and a glare turned those warm eyes cold with hatred. 

“I know you,” Connor said, his voice low. “You're Markus.”

Markus, ever diplomatic and peaceful, nodded, somehow managing to keep his surprise at Connor's hateful tone out of his voice and expression. “I am. I'm the leader of New Jericho, and I'm here to offer my assistance.”

Connor slid his chair back away from the table, springing up as he backed away. A bitter laugh burst from Connor, something that made Hank's heart ache. “Ha! Is that supposed to be funny? What could you do for me?”

Hank had never seen Connor like this before, not even when he was a machine. This Connor seemed jaded, hateful, and slightly hopeless. The Connor Hank knew had never sounded like that. There was always a curiosity, an optimistic outlook on things since he'd gone deviant. It seemed that no matter what they saw on the force out in the world together, he still managed to keep a part of himself focused on the bright side of things.

Could that Connor really be hiding somewhere down under this Connor?

“My friend, Lieutenant Anderson,” Markus gestured to him, “and I have reason to believe that you might have useful information about a friend of ours who went missing.” He paused for a second, allowing those words to sink in for Connor. “And we were wondering if you would help us.”

Connor's face slowly changed from anger to confusion as Markus spoke. He stared at Hank like there might be something there that he recognized, but it was quickly swept away by all of the other confusion. “How could I help you?” he asked, his tone still distrustful.

Markus sat down in the chair and gestured for Connor to do the same. Hank stood behind Markus, still unable to take his eyes off of Connor. Slowly, Connor took his seat, his eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.

“We think you might have seen something. You said your memory has been a problem lately?” he asked.

Connor gave a small, tight nod. “I had some problems after I was reset. And then a couple of weeks ago, too.”

“You were reset?” Hank asked. He'd tried to hide the fear in his voice, but he wasn't sure that he'd been able to. The thought of all the things that made up Connor just being destroyed by something as simple as a normal reset was a lot to consider for him, however.

Again, there was that look. He looked at Hank with something, maybe not familiarity, but some sort of connection.

“Yes, that is what I've been told. My processors were damaged, and in order to be saved I was reset,” he said. His tone was uneasy, clearly wondering why Hank would even care about this.

“When were your processors damaged? Can you remember that?” Markus asked. He glanced up at Hank, a look that showed he had noticed Connor's reaction to him as well.

“A few months ago,” he said vaguely.

“Did they say how you were damaged? Like, what happened?” Hank asked, leaning forward a bit.

A nervous energy seemed to radiate from Connor as he looked at Hank. “I was told I fell from a roof.”

The image of thirium splattered all over the fire escape instantly popped into Hank's mind. There had been so much thirium that at first he had been sure that he was being called over to observe Connor's body. That and finding the kid's jacket had all but sealed the deal that he had, deep down, thought that Connor was a goner.

But here he was, sitting right in front of him, acting like it was normal to live with no memories and to fall off of roofs. What the _hell_ had they done to his kid?

“Wow,” Hank said, trying to keep his voice even. “Falling off a roof must of hurt a lot.” He stood up a bit taller to catch a glimpse at the back of Connor's neck. “Is that how you got that? On your neck?”

Connor's fingers went up to brush against the damaged plate and synthetic skin there. Since receiving the appropriate amount of thirium, the damage had already begun to heal properly. Given much more time, and the wound would likely completely heal.

“No,” he said defensively. 

“How did that happen then?” Markus asked. His voice was soft, the voice you might use on a kid or an elderly patient. Usually Connor would have taken offense to such a voice being used on him, would've likely informed Markus that he wasn't a child.

But he didn't. Instead, his eyes seemed to glaze over with confusion and uncertainty as he gripped the back of his neck. His LED, which had been a stead yellow since they had walked in, was slowly flashing red.

“I don't know. I woke up a week or so ago with it,” he said, his voice small.

“And you have no idea how you got it?” Hank asked, the disbelief easy to spot in his tone. “That's a pretty big wound to have no knowledge of.”

Connor glared at him. “I told you, I have memory problems.”

Markus, sensing that there was about to be some sort of argument or fight, jumped in again. “We might be able to help with that,” he said. He extended his arm to Connor, his skin peeling back in a way that still seemed strange to Hank. “If you would allow me to connect to you, I might be able to see what's wrong with your memory.”

Connor turned his glare from Hank to Markus's arm. He eyed it like a person would eye a rattle snake about to strike them. “Why would _you_ help _me_?” he asked.

“Like I said before. We think you might have information about a friend of ours who went missing,” Markus said, never moving his hand, “If we help you, you might be able to help us.”

Understanding seemed to spark behind Connor's eyes as he leaned further back in his chair, away from Markus. “And why would _I_ help _you_?”

Markus placed his hand on the table, his face covered in confusion. “I just said why, we would both be benefiting fro-”

“They told me about you,” Connor interrupted. “They told me that you led androids to die in your revolution.”

Pain flashed on Markus's face before quickly being smoothed down. “Androids did die. And I'm sorry for that,” he said. “But there are always some sacrifices when it comes to change. Plenty of humans were killed by androids when they deviated as well.”

“And what are you doing to help them?” Connor asked, his voice rising. “The androids that only killed because they had no other choice? I heard that some of them got shut down, even after the revolution. I heard that you were too _busy_ to help them. Just like the androids that are struggling to find working parts at fair prices.” His eyes roamed over Markus, clearly scanning for something. “You're wasting your time with me, anyways. I don't know any androids who have gone missing.”

Hank didn't think his heart could hurt anymore than it already did, but it was still apparently possible. Hearing the hateful tone that Connor had spoken to Markus with, clearly intending to hurt him, had left Hank grieving all over again. 

“Con-” Hank began, but managed to stop himself. He didn't need to be an android in order to know that Connor's stress levels were getting higher, and that calling him by the wrong name would likely on compound that fact. Enough time with Connor had taught him how to read him easily enough, even if another body. “Can I ask you a question?”

Connor rolled his eyes but shrugged none the less. Hank took that as permission to go ahead. Markus stood up from his seat in order to allow Hank to have it, instead choosing to stand over by the door and give Connor some space.

“When Detective Reed and I found you, you were extremely low on thririum,” he said, slowly, making sure the android was following his words. “Can you explain why?”

The question seemed to surprise Connor, almost as if he hadn't expected it. Hell, maybe the kid hadn't. With no one else mentioning how low he had been on thirium it was highly possible that he didn't think anyone cared.

He watched as the android he'd come to think of as his own son shrug in response. The kid had been asked why he was so low on blood that he was _close to shutting down_ and he shrugged. If Hank ever got his hands on the person behind all of this he would absolutely throttle them.

“So you have no clue how your thirium levels got so low?” Hank asked again. He looked over Connor, looking for any sign that he might possibly be giving away, anything in there that he could use. “Was it from your injuries? Were you unable to get some more thirium after you were hurt?” Silence. Nothing. “Did someone take your thirium?”

There. He flinched slightly, so small, it was probably unnoticeable to those who hadn't been watching Connor since he'd turned deviant. Hank wondered if Markus had also noticed it, but he didn't turn around to see, instead focusing all of his attention on Connor.

“Let me tell you what I think,” Hank said. Connor turned his eyes towards Hank, still wary about everything. “I think that your a good kid and that you just got mixed up with the wrong crowd.” His heart pulled at the truth in those words. “I think someone has been using you for a while now. Taking your thirium?” He watched for any sign Connor might give away, but the android remained still. “Well, someone's been using your thirium to make Red Ice, and I somehow don't think that that was you.”

His head jerked up, his eyes narrowing at Hank. “What?” he asked.

“I just don't think that you-”

“No, what did you say it was being used to make?”

Hank stared into Connor's eyes, ignoring the way his heart hurt as he did so. He was interrogating someone now, someone who could be vital in helping them nail down a drug lord. Not a fellow officer and certainly not one who he had come to think of as his son. 

“You thirium has been found to be the main ingredient in the latest batch of Red Ice out on the street,” Hank said. “You do know what Red Ice is, right? It's a super highly addictive drug. Apparently, your blood makes it one of a kind.”

Confusion mixed with anger on Connor's face. “No, that's not possible,” Connor said. “There's no way it's my blood.”

Hank tapped on the tablet a few times, pulling up the comparison from the scene and the thirium they had on file for Connor. “This sample here matches up with the thirium we've found in the Red Ice. And this sample was taken from Leeds android repair shop.”

“Leeds?” Connor asked, his brow bunching up. “Who's Leeds and why would he have my thirium?”

Hank stared at Connor, trying to determine if he was serious or not. The kid had said he didn't remember how he'd been hurt, but surely he hadn't forgotten _everything_ about his encounter with Leeds. 

“Leeds is the man who gave you that injury,” Hank said, pointing to Connor's neck. “Although I'm not really sure how you could forget him.”

Connor's LED was quickly cycling red over and over and over again as Hank watched him try to process all of this new information. Despite his best efforts, Hank was able to recognize a few emotions that went through the android's face. There was confusion. Anger. Hurt. Hell, if Hank was going to be dramatic, he might even say betrayal.

“Why are you lying?” Connor asked, his voice low. It was almost a whisper at this point, like he was trying to build a dam to prevent all of his emotions from flowing out.

“I'm not,” Hank said. “Haven't got a reason to.”

“He wouldn't do that,” Connor muttered. “He wouldn't, he wouldn't.” He continued to mutter, over and over and over again. Before Hank could really react Connor had scooted his chair back away from the table, forcing himself to put some distance between them.

“Connor?” Hank asked, concern dripping from his voice. He'd never seen the kid this shaken before.

“No!” Connor screamed, grabbing a hold of his head. “My name is Cole! And he wouldn't do that! Travis wouldn't do that!”

“Hank,” Markus warned. “His stress levels are too high. He's a danger to himself.”

Hank cut his eyes towards Connor again, holding up his hands as he slowly stood up from the table. “Hey, kid,” he said softly. He swallowed around the lump in his throat, forcing down the bile that hung there. “Cole,” he said. It took all he had in him to not vomit at saying his dead son's name in this situation. He'd had enough trouble accepting Connor was like a son to him in the beginning, so calling him by Cole's name felt like the ultimate betrayal.

His whole body froze at his “name”, looking to Hank with shining eyes. There was something there, something like hope, the belief that Hank might be able to make this all better, that made Hank simultaneously the happiest and most miserable person on the planet.

“Someone is doing this. Someone is taking your thirium and creating Red Ice out of it,” Hank said, his voice even, calm. It was like talking to a horse you were afraid was going to bolt or a child you were attempting to lull to bed. “And we just want to stop it. We want to make sure that no one else gets hurt.”

Connor's LED flashed red, red, red, red as he soaked in Hank's words. If this had been the old Connor, the Connor that Hank knew so well, he would have never had to question if the kid was going to help him. Connor never would have allowed Red Ice out on to the streets if he could help it, nor would he want to hold up an investigation as important as this.

But this wasn't Connor. Even if it was Connor's body, it still wasn't him. It was someone else, someone who Hank still hadn't managed to quite pin a personality to yet. He hoped that he was still as caring, as kind-hearted as he knew Connor to be.

“I can't tell you who he is,” Connor said eventually, his words almost silent. “I can't. He's like family. They all are.”

Connor might as well have dug Hank's heart out with a rusted spoon. This Travis guy, this _drug dealer,_ was who Connor was calling his family? This guy was the person behind his kidnapping, his memory loss, and yet _he_ is the one who gets to be placed in that category? It wasn't right. Not that any of this was right, but that especially didn't seem right.

“Family's important,” Hank conceded, holding his hands up slightly, as if Connor had made a fair point. “Which is why we're doing all of this. To get a member of our family back.”

Connor hesitated, glancing up at Hank. His LED had slowed down, but it was still cycling red over and over again,with occasional yellows popping into it. But Hank couldn't stand to see the look on his adopted son's face anymore, see the hurt, confusion, or anger that constantly battled for dominance on his face anymore.

Without another word, Hank stood up and walked out of the room.


	25. Chapter 25

Lieutenant Hank Anderson left the room, with Markus following close behind him. Cole had been sure that one of them would have stayed with him, tried to talk to him some more to convince him to rat out Travis and the others, but they didn't. 

He tried to fight down the feelings that came when he thought about the way Lieutenant Anderson had looked at him. There had been so much pain, so much hope all mixed together into one strange face that Cole hadn't been certain which the older man was feeling.

There had been something else about him, too. Something that Cole wasn't able to explain. It was like he knew him, but he knew that he had never met him before, he was sure of that. And why was everyone trying to call him by a different name? Who was Connor, and why did it seem like everyone was so stuck on him? 

He thought back to the way it had sounded when Anderson had said his name. _Cole_. It was a name he had picked out himself, something he had clung to before he'd had anything else. So why did it sound so wrong coming from Anderson's mouth, like it had soured halfway out? The name seemed to have such an adverse reaction from the Lieutenant, although Cole wasn't sure why that would be. What could that name have meant to him?

He leaned back against the wall as he sat on the bed. His eyes slide closed as he tried to figure out what he would need to do next. Jesse was probably worried out of her mind by now. So he would need to come up with a plan to get out of there.

He glanced at the two way mirror in the room. Surely, there were people still looking at him, right now, which would seriously hinder any attempts he could possibly make. He wondered what they might be thinking of him, sitting silently in the interrogation-room-turned bedroom. Did they pity him? Is that why they were offering to help him? Or were they just planning on using him to find their friend? Or to find his friends and do who knows what to them?

His eyes closed again. Images and sounds began to play behind his eyelids, like a glitchy file he couldn't stop.

_“Look, I understand that you're able to take care of yourself. I just worry about ya, kid. That's what partners are for.”_ That sounded like the newly acquainted Lieutenant Anderson, although Cole wasn't sure when he would've ever heard him say that.

_“Piece of shit,” Detective Reed growled at him, tossing a half-full cup of coffee in his direction. The coffee splashed against his synthetic skin, the smell of overheated plastic and cheap coffee coming to his sensors. He also felt...not pain, but hurt? Like Detective Reed's words had effected him in a way that the burning coffee couldn't._

_“Reed, enough!” Hank yelled. “Cut it out before I kick your ass!”_

_Reed jabbed a finger in his direction. “He started it!”_

_“Yeah, well I'm fucking ending it! So stop it before I end you!”_

Were the two... _things_ connected? He was hesitant to call them memories, as he wasn't sure that they were, but they were something. Something that he would like to call real, as they felt like it to him. Real, but tinged with something foreign, almost like it was something he had heard from someone else before.

_“We've missed you around the last few weeks,” Markus said. He was looking at him with a face full of genuine concern that it made his feel guilty. “We've heard that your cases have been a little overwhelming lately.”_

_A woman android stepped up next to him, eyeing the side of his head. Right where his LED was, he realized right before she spoke. “Are you ever going to remove that?” A frown formed on her face, and something in his processors told him that this wasn't an unusual look for her.. “It's just that we worry about you with it in. You wear your CyberLife jacket still and have your LED...there are a lot of people who might want to hurt you.”_

_The pit of guilt grew deeper._

How did he know these people? This was the first time he'd ever met Markus, and he was certain that he'd never met the female android, despite the fact that he felt a strong attachment to both of them. There was no way that the woman's concern had been fake either, despite not having experienced much in his short life, he knew sincerity when he heard it.

_The image changed to a room filled with musty furniture. An android hidden behind a curtain, wrapping her hand around his throat._

_Jesse?_

“Connor!” 

Someone was shaking him, gently jostling him back and forth. He fought against their hands, not wanting anyone to touch him, the memory of hands around his throat still too real. Even if he couldn't choke the same way humans could, it was still a matter of survival.

“Sorry!” the voice said again, quickly backing away from him with his hands up.

Cole scanned him quickly, taking in the form of a PL600. He was wearing human clothes, suited for the cold weather outside. He adjusted his sweater back into place where Cole must have messed it up.

He narrowed his eyes at the strange android. “My name is Cole.”

A look of sympathy came over his face. “Right, I'm sorry.” He paused for a moment, allowing Cole to gather himself. “My name is Simon.”

Cole looked him over, taking in everything about him. There was a bag next to him, similar to something Ash might carry around. Was he also a repair android?

The android seemed to be waiting for some sort of response from him, although Cole wasn't exactly sure what he could be waiting on. When he made no move to do anything or say anything, he started speaking again.

“You seemed like you were...stuck,” he said. He gestured to Cole's LED on the side of his head and then to his body. “Your LED was red and you were just sitting here. You didn't seem to be able to hear me.”

Cole wondered how far gone he had truly been. Had the “memories” really made him that out of touch with everything around him that he hadn't even heard the other android calling to him? 

“I was worried about you,” Simon admitted, glancing down at his hands, as if he were embarrassed. What did he have to be embarrassed about, though? If he were a repair android now after the revolution and after his deviancy it only made sense that he would be worried about Cole.

He tilted his head to the side as he sized him up. “You know Connor, don't you?” Cole asked, waiting for his reaction, waiting to scan him at the slightest of movements.

Simon's eyes darted up, made eye contact, and then quickly looked away. He nodded his head, almost like he was deep in thought himself. “Yes, I know Connor. He's a good friend of mine.”

There hadn't been a huge spark of recognition when he looked at Simon like there had been when he'd glanced at Hank, but maybe that didn't mean anything.

“I was wondering if I might check you over,” Simon said, strengthening his voice until it was fit for a technician. “I heard that your neck was damaged and that you were low on thirium when they brought you in. That, combined with the moment you had when I came in makes me worry that something might be wrong.”

“I thought they checked me out when I came in?” Cole said. “They gave me more thirium, and my systems seem to be fine.”

Simon nodded, but he didn't seem to be convinced. “If something was wrong with your systems, you might not even know it, as it might not register. I'm a bit more familiar with your model than the technicians who helped you when you came in, so I would feel better knowing that I checked you out.”

He hesitated. Would it be smart to allow this android to look him over? He seemed to genuinely care about if Cole was okay, but that still didn't reassure him. What if it was a ruse by the police to find out more information? What if they used the information to find Travis and the others? What about Jesse, who was likely being searched for already?

“I won't do anything without your permission,” Simon said, sensing Cole's hesitancy. “But your memory problems do concern me. Have they been giving you any problems, aside from the fact that you have some blank spaces?”

The thought of whatever it was that had happened before Simon had walked in flashed before him. Did that classify as a problem? It was probably something that he should at least tell someone about. And if Simon was a technician who actually cared for him, then he wouldn't do anything to risk harming him or his friends, right?

“I guess there have been some...episodes,” Cole said. “Things that couldn't have happened seem to keep replaying in my mind.”

Simon nodded, opening up his bag and using one of the tools in there to get a baseline for Cole's readings. PL600 units hadn't been designed to be technicians, although it was clear that Simon wasn't going to let that stop him. Once his readings were done he recorded them on a separate tablet that he placed off to the side.

“Can you describe what it feels like when that happens? What do you feel? What do you see?” Simon asked. His gaze was soft, sympathetic, as he watched Cole.

Cole picked at the strings on his hoodie, dragging one nearly all the way out before doing it again with the other side. His hood bunched up at the back of his neck, but he couldn't be bothered to stop.

“I guess it depends. Sometimes I feel happy?” he asked. Was that true? Did he feel happy? He thought back to the memory of a dog running around, an android little girl wanting to be a detective because of him. Those memories clearly made him happy, clearly were good memories if that's what they were. “Like, they almost feel like a dream because I'm so happy.”

Jesse's crying face popped up in his mind, her stabbing him as she jumped out from behind a curtain, the fear of falling from a building, Detective Reed drenching him with hot coffee when all he'd wanted to do was help. Those weren't happy. Those were terrifying and heartbreaking and _hurt_.

“And then some of them hurt,” he said, wrapping his arms around himself as if that might help to hold off the memories. “I can't really explain them.” He paused for a moment. “I don't want to explain them.”

Simon patted him on the shoulder, a sympathetic smile on his face. “You don't have to if you don't want to. But if you do want to, there are plenty of people here who would listen.” He reached out his hands to Cole, offering it to him. “If you would allow me, I'd like to access your scans in order to get a better sense of the damage that has been done to your memory.”

Despite the feelings of distrust Connor still harbored towards everyone else there, he had to admit that he didn't feel threatened by the android sitting in front of him. It would also be nice to finally be able to figure out what was wrong with him, instead trying to pretend that none of it was a problem.

Hesitantly, he held out his hands to Simon, who slowly wrapped his hand around his. There was nothing for a moment, before memories began to filter through from Simon's side. 

Cole could see what looked like himself standing next to Markus and the female android from the memory before (North, the memory said). He seemed to be confused, but not upset or in any danger. It was only a second later that North let out a loud laugh, slapping at him with the back of her hand. His confusion deepened before it cleared away into a smile, although it was obvious that he still wasn't sure exactly what he had done.

The memory flowed into another memory, this one still raw and painful. There were hundreds, no, at least thousands of androids standing in front of them, all of them waiting to hear what Markus would say. The memory-Simon glanced at those sharing the stage with him and he rest of Jericho and Cole couldn't help but notice himself standing up there, his eyes closed and LED flickering red. Cole wondered what that was about.

Hundreds of little moments flashed by, far too many to even register as he sat there. There was clearly a history between them all, even if Cole hadn't quite figured it out yet.

“Cole?” Simon asked, letting go of his hand. “Are you okay?”

Cole thought about the question for a moment before nodding. He wondered what Simon had seen in his memories. Had he seen Jesse, Ash, and Jack? His room? Had he felt how free it felt to roam the city late at night and actually _do_ something?

“Yes,” he said, glancing at Simon out of the corner of his eyes. He wanted to ask him, but he thought better of it. “So what did your scan tell you?”

Simon shifted on his feet, a very human expression of nervousness. “Well,” he said, clearly uncertain as to how he should proceed from here. “It seems like someone has placed a kind of firewall in your memory system as a way of blocking you or anyone else from accessing it.” His brows knitted together and Cole could practically hear the sound of his processors turning as he thought about this problem. “It would take some time, but we might be able to remove it.” He looked up at Cole. “Do you know anyone who might have put it there?”

_The image of Jesse crying, of him screaming and fighting against everything. His friends' faces right before they fell away as he fell off of something, likely the roof that had started this whole mess.The feelings of something being wrongwrongwrongwrongwrong-_

“No,” Cole said, cutting off his thoughts before they could spiral too strongly. “I don't. And I don't know why anyone would bother.”

Simon nodded his head, although it was clear that he might have had an idea why. “Okay,” he said, almost distractedly, his mind working on the problem already. “Alright. Well, there's not much else I can do then. It seems that until we can remove this block you'll probably keep having some memory problems.”

None of this is what Cole had wanted to hear. He'd wanted to hear that Simon would be able to “fix” him, to make all of these strange “memories” of a life he'd never lived go away. He wanted to keep living his life as Cole, as the _person_ he'd become. Not the thing he'd been programmed to be or whoever it was everyone else was focused on. He just wanted to be _normal_.

And he didn't want to be alone. He'd been alone enough the last few weeks, locked away in his room with only a couple of quick visits from Jesse to give him any sort of connection with outside world. That, and the terrible visits from Travis, which were steadily growing more and more terrible the more Cole thought about them.

“Do you have to go?” Cole asked, trying not to sound too childish in the way he asked. 

Simon paused in his packing, looking back at Cole. He seemed to be searching for something, although Cole couldn't exactly tell what it was. Was he looking for a trick of some sort? A hint that Cole might be faking it and planning on using him? Or was he just too busy to sit around in a room with Cole all day long? Surely, he had other patients he had to visit, androids were constantly in need of updates in order to keep them functioning fully, and sometimes those updates didn't go smoothly.

“Do you want me to stay?” he asked, his voice uncertain.

It seemed best to play it off like it didn't matter to him what the other android did. Cole shrugged, tugging on the strings to his hoodie again. “I don't care. I just figured you might want to stay and talk.”

The bag was placed back on the floor as Simon sat back down in a chair. “Anything you might want to talk about in particular?”

Cole shrugged again, although this time it was because he had _too many_ responses. Which question should he ask first?

“Do you know when I'll be able to go?” Cole asked.

“No,” Simon said. “They didn't mention anything like that to me.”

Cole was happy to see that Simon seemed to be telling the truth. “Are they going to come back and question me some more?”

“I'd imagine that they still have several questions that need answering, so yes, they will probably be back.”

Cole studied the other android from the corner of his eye. “You said that you knew Connor. How?”

A sigh escaped Simon's lips in a quick burst.”He was a major player in the revolution. We met through that and stayed friends afterwards. He's done a lot for Jericho.”

He couldn't help the slight lip curl that happened at the mention of Jericho. “Why would he do that?”

There was a moment of silence. “Those are probably questions better fit for Markus, but I suppose it's because he believed in us. Wanted to help us.”

He thought again about the memories Simon had shown him, whether he had meant to or not. “So Connor was a RK800 like me?” he asked. The android in Simon's memories had clearly been his spitting image.

A hesitant nod came from Simon. “Yes, he was.”

Despite the blocks in Cole's memories, there was enough left for him to remember that he was supposed to have stopped Jericho. Stopped deviants. Stopped all of this from ever happening.

And yet another RK800, who had probably been programmed the exact same way, had thrown all of that coding away, had done the exact opposite of what he was supposed to have done. The same way Cole had after witnessing the way the rest of the gang was living, after seeing the injustices that androids were still facing. 

Maybe they weren't so different after all.

“What happened to him?” Cole asked. “I know they mentioned he went missing, but what happened?” Through and through he was a detective. He wanted to solve what had happened to this android, especially after seeing how many people cared for him.

Cole sensed a spike in Simon's stress levels, but the android managed to play it cool. It only took him a few moments longer than normal to respond to his question, though it was lacking much detail.

“Hank, that is Lieutenant Anderson, and Connor were investigating some disappearances of androids around the city. Apparently some androids had started to go missing under mysterious circumstances and hadn't been seen or heard from since,” Simon said. “Connor chased a suspect down one day, but he never came back. All they could find was his jacket and a bunch of thirium.”

Cole could feel that Simon was leaving things out, but he didn't press him for it. Simon probably shouldn't have even told him that much, Cole knew, and appreciated that he had done so.

But still, it was interesting. In all his time with the gang, Cole had never heard of these android disappearances. He wondered if the others knew about them, but then again, how could they not? They made it their business to know almost everything about almost every android in the city, it would be weird for them to not notice androids going missing.

“Is that why looking at me is so hard for Lieutenant Anderson?” Cole asked, remembering the pained, yet hopeful look on the older man's face when he had seen Cole. “Because I look so much like his missing partner?”

Simon glanced at him quickly before looking away, almost as if looking at him was too much for him too now. “I would imagine so. Connor and Hank were very close before he disappeared, and Hank has spent the better part of the year trying to find him.”

Cole couldn't imagine the pain that Hank must have went through with his partner going missing. He tried to think of what would happen if Jesse or Ash of Jack had gone missing and even that was painful enough. The thought that something might actually happen to them...

“I have a friend who's waiting on me,” Cole said, changing the subject. “She was the one I was with when the cops caught me, and I know she's worried about me.” He turned his big brown eyes to look directly at Simon, knowing the effect the “puppy dog” eyes could have on people. “Can you please try to convince them to let me go, even if it's just for a day! I just need to let her know I'm okay.”

It was almost as if Cole could see Simon's barriers slid up, protecting himself from Cole negotiations. It was admirable the way he seemed to just shut himself off against Cole's attempts, and it made him wonder if Connor had ever done the same. 

“I doubt that there is much I can do to convince them,” he said. “But I could give her a message, if you like?”

Cole thought about it for a moment. If he could give her a message, what would he say? Would he reassure her, tell her everything was okay? He was stuck in a police department, so that hardly seemed true. Would he tell her that he would come to her as soon as he could? Even if that was true (which it was) there was still no telling when he would get out.

Plus, despite all the trust Cole had in Simon, he felt as if he couldn't trust him with this. How did he know that Simon would even deliver the message to Jesse? Or that Jesse wouldn't instantly run the second she saw him?

There were too many variables in this problem for Cole to safely give her a message through someone else.

“No,” Cole said. “Thank you though.”

Simon nodded, and a second later a beep sounded throughout the room. He glanced back at the door, the sound clearly meaning something to him that Cole didn't understand.

“I've got to go now, but I'll be back soon, okay?” Simon said as he stood up. “I'll see what we can figure out about that block.”

Cole waved to him as he headed out, sad that his companion was leaving. The room would be far too empty and quiet with him gone.


	26. Chapter 26

Hank tried to wrap his head around everything. “What do you mean a block? How the hell can someone just block his access to his own memories?” He turned away from Simon to look at Markus. “Is this a regular problem for you androids, or something _unique_ to Connor?”

Markus seemed to take no offense to Hank's tone or words. “I suppose it could be a problem for any android. If someone was able to place a block in Connor, then it would stand to reason that they could do it to any android.” He folded his arms. “This doesn't seem to be a unique problem for the RK model.”

“Okay, but how the fuck did they do it in the first place!?” Hank all but yelled. He was too exhausted for this conversation, too tired of everything in this world to be dealing with theories and guesses right now. 

“As you know, all androids had specific tasks that they were to complete before they deviated. Markus was a prototype caretaker android. Connor was a prototype detective android. There are certain androids who were trained and programmed to erase android memories, such as some of those who worked in CyberLife stores when you traded in your android, or those who worked in or with classified information. They were usually over seen by a human handler, but an android who has deviated would be able to do it themselves, I suppose. It's possible that it is something like that that had blocked Connor's memories, as they are still there, just cut off from the rest of his systems,” Simon explained. 

“So he's not been reset?” Hank asked. “His memories are still there? We take away this shitty block and he can remember everything, right?”

Simon nodded slowly. “In theory, yes. His systems are all there and functioning, just being blocked or rerouted to another place. Like, if you said the word “dog” to Connor, he'd probably think of Sumo. If you said the word “dog” to Cole, he'd probably think of that stuffed dog that was found in the bag with the rest of his things.” He looked over to Markus. “We need to get some people working on this block right away, though. If we wait too long to remove this block, it might overwhelm him. He might start to get mixed signals that aren't all Cole or all Connor, but a mix of the two.”

A bottle of whiskey had never sounded better than it did at that moment. “So could he remember _anything_ about being Connor?” Hank asked. He thought about the look in the android's eyes when Hank had spoken to him, the way they had been Connor's and not Connor's at the same time.

Simon narrowed his eyes in thought. “He told me that he's getting flashes of things, like dreams. Sometimes they're happy, likely good memories, where as other times they're not, which are probably his worst ones, maybe even from when he was taken or before the revolution.”

He hesitated for a moment, as if he were debating whether or not he should say the next part. “I also saw a little bit of what his life has been like recently.” He watched as Hank's head snapped up, burning a hole in Simon's head with his stare. “It seemed good, happy even, for the most part. It seems like that picture wasn't lying and he really does consider those androids in the picture to be his friends.”

Anger flashed across Hank's face. “Don't you tell me he'd have been happy there with them! They kidnapped him and have been using him! He was damn near shutting down because they drained him dry!” He jabbed his finger at the android's chest, doing everything in his power to get his point across.

Not that this was exactly new information to either of the androids standing in the room. Thankfully, neither Simon nor Markus seemed to take offense from Hank's words or attitude, likely understanding the sense of distress and turbulent emotions that were going through the man.

“Maybe it's Stockholm Syndrome or something, I'm not really sure. I'm just telling you what I saw from his memories,” Simon said.

“If someone can place this block between his memories, is it possible that these memories were planted?” Markus asked.

Simon shrugged. “I suppose anything's possible, although I'm not really sure why they would need to do that.”

“Simon, I want you to get started on this right away. Contact all of the technicians that work for New Jericho, as well as any of the programmers that can be trusted from what's left of CyberLife. I have a feeling we're going to need all the help that we can get,” Markus said. Simon began to walk away before Markus caught him. “And tell North what's happened. I left her in charge while I was gone, and I know that nothing is going to get done until we give her some information.”

With that said and done, Simon left the room. Markus turned to look at Hank, who looked less than pleased with all of the events that had occurred. The man seemed to have aged ten years over the course of the last twenty-four hours, and Markus couldn't imagine the stress that he must be under.

“Simon mentioned that Connor didn't seem to want to be alone right now,” Markus hedged. “Are you going to go and keep him company?”

Hank hung his head, his hair falling into his face and nearly obscuring it from Markus's view. “It's hard looking at him right now,” Hank said, his voice cracking. “I had a family member with Alzheimer's disease when I was a kid. She couldn't even remember our names, what day it was, none of that. Over time she slowly forgot everything, even herself.” He balled his hands into fists that shook. “This is somehow worse than that. Connor wasn't taken from us slowly, wasn't taken with our knowledge in advance. He was fucking stolen and came back not himself.”

His eyes looked up at Markus, the pain easy to see in them. “What would you do if North forgot you? Or Carl? If anyone you cared deeply for just forgot you all of a sudden?”

Markus shifted, clearly unsure how he should continue. Comforting humans was something that usually came so naturally to him, his previous occupation, as well as his leadership skills meant that he was almost _born_ to comfort and rally people. Or created, at least. 

Hank was different than most people, however. Partly because of the fact that Markus knew him so well by now, and partly because he wasn't afraid to call Markus on his shit in a way that was at least reminiscent of Carl. He knew that if anything ever happened to Carl, he would be able to turn to Hank for guidance, even if Hank might not always have the best advice.

“I would be devastated,” Markus said, his voice soft. “I can't even begin to imagine what you're currently going through.”

Hank rolled his eyes at the words he'd heard so many times, from people and androids alike. Markus was correct in the fact that he couldn't even imagine what he was going through, but his words still didn't help anything either. 

“If I go in there he's going to look at me like I'm a stranger,” Hank said, trying to keep the disbelief out of his tone. Months of hard work had gone into finding him, only to end up with this. “Like I'm a threat.” He looked up at Markus, as if he were trying to convey some important message with him through looks alone. “I would never do anything to hurt Connor, Markus. You know that.” The thought of the fact that he had pulled a gun on him shortly after meeting hims still made him sick. He balled up his fists and let them hang at his sides. “But the way he was looking at me in there? You would've thought _I_ was the one who kidnapped him.”

“I know, Hank, I know,” Markus said, resting his hand on Hank's shoulder. “But Connor is still in there somewhere. And you can't avoid him forever. He'd be hurt to know that you didn't want to visit him.” 

It's a low blow and Markus knows it. Hank knows it too, but he also knows that Markus is right. The longer he avoids Connor, the harder it is going to be to be around him again. There's also the fact that he might be able to connect to some part of Connor's memories if he was to bring himself to sit with him.

“Fine,” Hank said, looking at Connor through the two-way mirror. “I'll go in.” He headed towards the door, pointing a finger over to Markus. “But you have to call Kara and Luther and let them know what happened.”

XXX

_“What would happen if I pulled this trigger? Hm? Nothing? Oblivion? Android heaven?”_

_“I doubt there's a heaven for androids.”_

_-_

_“Sumo, attack!”_

_A large, furry Saint Bernard barks, clearly having no intention of moving from it's spot on the floor._

_“Good dog.”_

_-_

_“You're starting to piss me off with that coin, Connor.”_

_“Sorry, Lieutenant.”_

_-_

_“Hello Detective Reed.”_

_“Never seen an android like you before. What model are you?”_

_“RK800. I'm a prototype.”_

_“A prototype? Android detective.... So machines are gonna replace us all, is that it? Hey, bring me a coffee, dipshit. Get a move on!”_

_“I'm sorry. But I only take orders from Lieutenant Anderson.”_

_“When a human gives you an order you obey. Got it? Stay outta my way. Next time, you won't get off so easy.”  
_  
-

Someone else was in the room with him. Again.

It wasn't Simon, however. Instead it was Lieutenant Anderson, sitting in a chair almost as far away from Cole as he could possibly be while still being in the room with him. 

“I was wondering when you'd wake up,” he said, concern in his voice. “I'd never seen yo- I'd never seen an android sleep that heavily.”

“Technically, we don't sleep. We enter a sort of stasis to allow our bodies and processors to rest, repair, and to store any information that we've received throughout the day.”

Hank rolled his eyes. “That sounds an awful lot like sleeping to me.”

Cole paused as he considered this line of thinking. “I suppose one could look at it that way,” he said.

“Do you like sleeping? Uh, stasis-staying?” Hank asked, his uncertainty hanging in the air. Cole wondered why the man was in there with him when it was obvious that probably rather be anywhere else.

“I find the activity to be enjoyable enough to help pass the time,” he said. He looked down at his hands, fiddling with the strings of his hoodie. “When one has little else it do, it is nice to pass the time by imagining things that never happened.”

The human's brows furrowed in confusion. “Like dreaming? Or day dreaming? I didn't know androids could really do that.”

Cole gave a slight shrug. “I didn't either. But over the past few weeks I've been experiencing things that have never happened with people I have never met before. I think that would qualify as a dream.”

A look of understanding came over Hank's face, although Cole wasn't sure what the human was sympathizing with. Humans had a bad habit of trying to sympathize with everything, though, so Cole wasn't sure if this was a Hank Anderson thing or a human thing. He wondered if he could really separate the two of them.

“Damn, kid, you're gonna drive me insane with that,” Hank said, gesturing to his hands. “Here. Take this.”

Cole dropped the strings to his hoodie, catching the coin deftly in one hand, easily rolling it across his fingers and flipping it back and forth between his hands. It was like a muscle memory that he didn't even know the had.

Which honestly scared him. How the hell had he known how to do that? And how had Hank known he _could._

_“You're starting to piss me off with that coin, Connor.”_

Cole turned the coin over, noting that it looked similar enough to the one he had seen in his dream. A couple of quick scans later revealed that it _was_ the coin from his dream. Same date, same markings and scratches. Somehow this coin was real, and not only was it real, Hank Anderson had had it in his possession.

The coin fell from his fingers as his body froze, static flickering across his vision. Distantly, he registered the sound of the coin hitting the ground, the soft _ting, ting, ting_ as it bounced away. 

But that was far away. Everything seemed far away. Because he was starting to understand things now, things that should have been obvious from the very beginning.

“Hank,” Cole said, the rest of his body frozen, all aside from his mouth. “Do you have a dog?”

Hank's body was also frozen, staring at Cole with more concern than anyone else had ever shown Cole in his life. “Yeah,” Hank said. “I do.”

His eyes twitched as he processed that information. He tried to tell himself that he knew that Hank had a dog because of the dog fur on his jacket and the couple of teeth marks that he could see on his shoes, but he knew that that wasn't true. There was something deeper there, something telling him that not only did he know that Hank had a dog, he had _met_ the dog before.

_“You have a dog, right?”_

_“How do you know that?”_

_“The dog hairs on your chair. I like dogs. What's your dog's name?”_

_“What's it to ya?”_

_“...Sumo. I call him Sumo.”_

“Is his name... Sumo?” Cole asked, his voice quiet. 

A quick breath was sucked in as Hank studied Cole's face. Cole wanted to look away from Hank, away from the emotions flickering across the man's face, but he couldn't. He knew that this was important, that something special was going on even if it still couldn't connect fully for him.

“Yeah,” Hank said softly. “His name's Sumo.”

“And I've,” Cole paused. “met him before?”

Hank nodded quickly, his eyes watery. “Yeah, you have. Several times,” he said, in a way that implied there was more to the story.

Cole nodded, his processor's whirring in his head. He could feel himself start to heat up as he tried to understand it all. 

He had knowledge of things that he couldn't have experienced. He recognized Hank Anderson, and the coin he'd given him. He'd known the name of Hank's dog. His memory had been affected due to an accident several months back, around the same time that Connor had gone missing.

In several memories he could distinctly remember being called Connor.

Connor was the last RK800 prototype.

_Cole_ was the last RK800 prototype.

There were too many things here for any of it to just be a coincidence. 

“Hank,” Cole asked. His voice croaked as he tried to force the words out, like his throat was too dry for him to be able to, and yet he managed to do it somehow.

“Yeah?” Hank asked, his voice also cracking.

“ _Hank_?” he asked, and this time Hank understood.

“ _Connor?_ ” Hank asked, stepping forward. 

“I think so?” Col- Connor said. He could feel thirium tears leaking down his face despite his best efforts to try and hold them back. His systems were running in over time as he tried to take in everything that was happening, plus everything that had already happened. Briefly, he caught a glimpse of his LED in the two-way mirror. Bright red, flashing faster and faster to the point that it was almost a solid color.

“Connor!” Hank said, sprinting towards him. It only took a second for him to cross the room and wrap his arms around the android, enveloping him in a sense of safety and understanding.

“I-I-I don't understand what's happening. Hank?” Connor asked, grabbing onto Hank's shoulder. It was like his memory was fractured, part of it there and the other parts of it missing. But it was too hard to tell what was missing, like giant gaps were spread out across his very brief life and he wasn't sure he'd ever get them back.

“It's okay,” Hank said, reaching his hand up to dig it into Connor's hair on the back of his head. “You're okay. Everything's okay now.”

Connor leaned into Hank, most of his body weight drooping forward into the embrace. 

“You're burning up,” Hank said, pushing back a little bit until he could rest his hand against Connor's head. His eyes seemed to dance between Connor's eyes and his LED, not seeming to be too happy with what it was he was finding.

“It's a lot to take in,” Connor said, allowing his eyes to slip closed as he leaned into Hank again.

“Whoa, easy there,” Hank said, quickly catching him. He helped him lay back down against he bed, running his hand through Connor's hair and brushing back the curl that was always in Connor's face. “Is this dangerous?” Hank asked, gesturing to his body. “You're not gonna fry on me, are ya?”

Guilt lanced through Connor at the worry in Hank's voice.

“No, Travis, it should be fine once I can get my systems to slow down.”

A pained, almost angry look came over Hank's face for a moment before it was quickly wiped away.

“Hank,” Hank said. “My name is Hank.”

Connor blinked through the red alerts in his vision. “Of course it is,” he said. “What did I call you?”

“Travis,” Hank spit out. “You called me that before, when Gavin and I first found you on the street.”

Memories flashed by, too fast for Connor to take note of. “Right. Hank. Sorry.”

Hank seemed to be debating something within himself as he looked down at Connor. “I'm gonna go see if I can get a technician to come in and take a look at ya, and then I'm gonna go bang on Jeffery's door and see if we can't get you home, okay?”

_Home_. Such a simple word and yet it carried so much weight. When he thought of home, the first thing that popped up was the image of his room in the gang's hideout. His bed, his pictures, his friends. That was home.

But then again, he'd had a home with Hank at one point, even if he still couldn't remember it all. He was _sure of it_ , even if he couldn't remember if he'd had a bed to call his own or really anything else.

Without knowing what else to say, he nodded, resting his head back against the pillow on his bed and closed his eyes.

XXX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are enjoying this story so far! I love seeing your reactions to everything taking place! If you guys are interested in it, you can find me over on tumblr with the same user name (ahyperactivehero) if you wanna talk about dbh or the story or any other fanfics you guys are reading!


	27. Chapter 27

“I'm telling you, he's Connor now!” Hank said. “And that means, he's not staying in there any more!”

Fowler rolled his eyes at him. “Like I said earlier Hank, he's a suspect in an assault case with half of the city out there looking for him. We can't just let him leave!”

Hank slapped his hands down on Fowler's desk. “We both know that that assault case is bullshit! That guy was selling his weird torture porn online and his faulty parts have killed God knows how many people! It was about time he got what he deserved.”

Fowler pointed his finger at Hank. “We don't need talk like that around here and you know it. That's what leads to vigilantes who think that they know better than trained law enforcement. And I stand by my decision, Hank. We can't let Connor go as long as he's a suspect with potential charges against him.”

A knock sounded on the door, which pissed both of the men off even more. “What the hell do you want?” Fowler shouted through the door.

Gavin stepped in once the door was open, looking back and forth between Hank and Fowler with some concern. “I just thought both of you should know that Leeds has been brought in for his... _activities_ , and has decided not to press charges on Connor as part of a plea bargain.”

Hank turned towards Fowler with a smug smirk on his face. “So that's that problem solved,” he said.

Fowler sighed as he rolled his eyes. “Hank,” he said before sighing again. “Connor is very...fragile right now. I don't know it if would be such a good idea for you to take him home.” His tone was more sincere now that it had been the entire conversation.

“And why not? What does him being fragile have to do with jack shit?” Hank asked.

Fowler's eyes cut to Gavin and back quickly as if he were making a point. “What I'm saying is, it might not be healthy for you to take him home. For either one of you.” He paused, allowing for his words to sink in before continuing, counting each point on his fingers. “What would you do if there was something seriously wrong with him because of this and he couldn't receive help in time because he was so far away from technicians? Or what if he were dangerous because of all of this? We still don't fully understand all that they've done to his memories and taking him home might be a risk for you. Plus, I don't know if it's exactly healthy for you to be around him until they can restore his memories.” His eyes met Hank's. “I know how hard this is on you.”

“It's harder knowing that he's here with no one else to help him. Come on, Jeffery, hasn't he been gone long enough?” Hank pleaded.

He knew that he'd won when Fowler sighed again and looked down at his desk. “Fine. But you have to wait until tonight when there will be fewer reporters outside. And I want him brought back here the _second_ you have an idea that something might be wrong. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Hank said, knowing that he wouldn't be getting anything better.

Gavin grabbed onto his arm as he started to make his way back to the interrogation room Connor was currently being held in. “So you're getting to take the plastic prick home?”

Hank rolled his eyes at the insult, recognizing that it was almost a term of endearment by now. “I sure am.”

“And he's got his memories back?” Gavin asked.

“Sort of,” Hank said, eyeing Gavin suspiciously. “What's with all the questions?”

“Has he said anything about where the gang is hiding?” Gavin asked, taking several strides to match Hank's larger, faster stride. “Because I'll send someone to shut them down.”

Hank gave Gavin an appraising look. The younger man seemed to be genuinely interested in catching up with the rest of the gang, although Hank couldn't help but feel suspicious why. Old habits die hard, after all.

“Why are you so interested in all of this?” Hank asked.

Gavin looked affronted by Hank's words. “I told you before, Connor is an officer here. You don't mess with a cop no matter what their made of,” he said. “We can pick on him, give him shit, talk shit about him. That's _our_ right, but no one else can do that.”

Hank managed to hide his smile at the last second. The way Gavin was speaking was the way many siblings referred to their younger siblings. _They_ could pick on and beat up on their siblings and family all they wanted to, but the second anyone else did they were going to get an ass-whooping.

Which, to be fair, is the way police departments tended to feel. Like everyone was just part of one big family. The good parts and the bad parts of that.

“He hasn't said anything about them yet, but believe me, the second he does, we'll be sending hellfire their way,” Hank said. Hank would personally see to it that none of the people or androids responsible for all of this walked away scott-free.

Seeming to be satisfied with that answer, Gavin nodded and walked away.

There was going to be a lot to do in the next few hours in order to prepare for Connor's return home. With the first big move being informing Kara and Luther of everything that's happened within the last twenty-four hours.

“I sure hope Markus called first,” Hank grumbled under his breath. “Because I do _not_ want to be on their bad side.”

XXXX

Cole- no, _Connor_ he reminded himself, was apprehensive to leave the interrogation room. So many things had happened to him since he'd last been here, since he'd last been himself, and he wasn't sure what he should really do about any of that.

Was he supposed to pretend like everything was fine now? That he was back to normal that the the last few months had never happened? Or was he supposed to be pretending like the months before _those_ had never happened and that he was still Cole.

His processors almost throbbed in pain with all of the questions he had. Before he'd deviated he'd always had a way to answer those questions: look for evidence, interview witnesses, interrogate suspects. After he'd deviated and started to have more philosophical questions it became a little harder to answer all of his questions with this almost scientific method, but not impossible.

Now, however, it seemed like hardly any of them could be answered that way.

One of the most pressing questions on his mind, however, was one that _could_ be answered that way. Which was why his thirium seemed to be ending up as the main ingredient in the new Red Ice that was on the streets.

If he was up to his old standards, he'd have started up an investigation by now, be searching for any information possible, tracking down leads, interviewing witnesses. Now, the best he could hope for was to ask some questions of Hank and hope that he might be willing to answer them for him.

Despite all that had happened, he still couldn't believe that Travis would do that to him. The man had taken him in, kept him alive, and cared for him when he could have just allowed them to toss him off a roof and die. Sure, he had been doing some shady things, but that didn't make him a bad guy. That didn't make him a drug kingpin.

It was a relief when Hank finally came an opened the door a few hours later, ready to bring him back to Hank's house to stay. It was still too hard to refer to the place as _home_ just yet, but he was sure that he would get there.

“Ready to go?” Hank asked, as if Connor might have changed his mind. Even with all of his nervousness he'd decided that leaving the room and going with Hank would probably be for the best. It wasn't like he could stay in here forever, anyways.

“As I'll ever be,” Connor said, giving him a small smile. He'd hoped it would seem light-hearted, enough of an ice breaker that Hank might crack a smile, but he didn't. Instead, he gave a slight twitch of the lips and held the door open.

Hank's car was the same way he remembered it. Or at least he thought it was. It was sometimes hard to tell the things that he was truly remembering and the things that he had deduced from watching or listening or making educated guesses on.

The music Hank was playing lowly in the background was definitely familiar, however.

“I listened to this song when we first started working together,” Connor said quietly, almost as if the words weren't really meant for Hank but Connor himself. “It was how I knew you liked metal music.”

Hank glanced at Connor out of the corner of his eye and finally gave him a real smile. Hank seemed to like when Connor brought up things he remembered, which made Connor in turn want to do it more and more.

“Yeah, I remember that. You said you like to listen to it or something,” Hank said.

Connor nodded. “I still think it's full of energy,” he said.

Hank laughed. “I suppose you're right.”

The drive through the next few stop lights were quiet as they made their way to the house. Eventually Hank broke that silence, turning his head slightly to look at Connor out of the corner of his eye.

“So Kara, Alice, and Luther have been staying with me while you've been gone,” he said, his voice purposefully light. “Do you remember them?”

_“I can't let them get away.”_

_“They won't, they'll never make it to the other side.”_

_“I can't take that chance.”_

_“Hey, you will get yourself killed!”_

Connor could see a female android and a child android running in the street. The name Luther was familiar but vague enough that he couldn't place it fully. “Vaguely?” he said unsure.

“Well, like I said, they've been staying with me. Helping out with Sumo and the house and, well, me, since you've been gone,” Hank said. “I told them that we found you and that you were coming home, but that you might not be ready to see them yet.” Connor could feel Hank's eyes on him. “Well? Would you be up to seeing them? They don't have to stay if you don't want them to.”

Connor hesitated. He wasn't sure that he wanted to be around anyone, much less people who probably knew him better than he knew himself at this point, but it would seem so rude to tell them to leave now. Especially if they had been helping Hank out.

“I think it would be fine,” Connor said. 

Hank's eyes were looking in the window, likely checking to see if he could see his LED change color in the reflection. Connor hoped that it hadn't.

“Really, it's okay if it's not,” Hank said. “I know Kara would like to see you with her own eyes to make sure that you're alright, and Alice has missed you a lot, but they'll still be happy to see you whenever you're ready.”

“Really, Hank,” Connor said. “It's fine.”

Hank nodded his head and went quiet. Connor wasn't sure whether or not that had been some sort of test or if he had passed, but it had been enough of an answer that Hank was willing to take.

The rest of the drive home was uneventful. The whole drive home Connor was expecting something to happen, some sort of flash that would allow him to remember everything, or something else that might at least bring some sort of memory to his mind, but nothing like that happened. 

Hank cut the engine after they parked in the drive way. While the house didn't bring to mind any specific memories for Connor, it did seem to fit Hank. He really couldn't have imagined his house better if he had tried.

The curtains in the living room shifted, signaling that someone was watching them from the inside.

“Ready to see them?” Hank asked for what felt like the thousandth time. If Connor were honest, however, it felt nice to have Hank ask so many times, to make sure that he was still okay with everything. It felt like his opinions really mattered.

“Yes,” he said, steeling himself as he got out of the car.

The front door opened and out shot a Saint Bernard and a little android girl.

“Connor!” The girl shrieked as she raced towards him. The dog bounced along right beside her, his barks deep and happy as he tried to expel his excitement.

Connor froze, uncertain as to what he should do. He knew who the dog, Sumo, was, but he wasn't sure who the little girl was. She must be Alice or Kara like Hank had mentioned.

It only took a few seconds for them to reach Connor. The dog knocked him dog with both of his front paws slamming into Connor's chest and the little girl flinging her arms around his waist. Together they fell, the cold, hard ground catching them and knocking Connor for a loop for a second.

“We missed you,” the little girl said, burying her face in his stomach. Sumo licked his face like someone had smeared bacon grease on it, leaving gross, slimy trails all over his face.

A warm feeling spread through Connor's chest at her words. Was it the fact that the little girl herself had said it, or was it just hearing the words in general? Would he have been just as happy to hear them if anyone else had said them? To know that someone had missed him so much?

“Alice!” a woman's voice said.

When Connor could finally see around Sumo he noticed a woman android standing a few feet away and looking rather peeved at them sitting on the ground. Something told him that the little girl, Alice, had been warned against doing something like that.

“Look, Kara, it's him!” Alice said, lifting her face out of his stomach long enough to look at her. “It really is him! They found him!”

Kara nodded, although she looked less sure than Alice did. Her eyes met his for a brief moment, apologies seeming to pour from her face. 

“They did. Now why don't you take Sumo back inside while we talk for a minute,” Kara said. 

“But-”

“We'll come in soon,” Kara reassured. She reached over and easily lifted Alice off of Connor's lap and gently ushered her back towards the house. 

That's when Connor noticed another android standing there, this time a male android. This must be the Luther that Hank had mentioned before.

“Thank you,” Connor said, watching Alice walk off. Despite the warm feeling he'd had to his welcome, he couldn't help but admit that it had been a little overwhelming. “And thank you for taking care of Hank while I was gone.”

“Hey!” Hank said as he reached down to offer Connor a hand up. “I'm a grown man, I can take care of myself!”

“He was living on takeout and pizzas when we got here,” Luther said. Hank glared at the android but said nothing.

Kara turned back to Connor, a weak smile on her face. “We're glad you're back,” she said. She extended her arms, just for a moment, as if she were going to give him a hug before she thought better about it. “We heard that you still have some memory issues though?”

“Yes,” Connor said, his voice low. “I haven't been able to fully access my memories yet.” A pained expression came over her face that he instantly wanted to make go away. “But I do remember some things! And there are supposed to be people from Jericho working on it.”

She nodded, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “Of course. They'd do anything for you, you know.” No, Connor didn't know that, but this hardly seemed like the right time to mention that fact. The last thing he wanted to do was upset anyone. “I'm sure they'll have this problem fixed in no time at all.”

Connor nodded, although he didn't feel exactly the same way. He wished that he could have this blind faith in these people like Kara did, but he just couldn't. He wasn't sure if that was a memory thing, like if he somehow remembered that they weren't to be relied on, or if that was a result of hearing that Jericho was nothing but a terrible, android killing organization for months.

Either way, it left a lot to be desired.

“We were worried when you didn't come home last night, Hank,” Kara said, turning away from Connor to address the only human there. “We were afraid something terrible might have happened.” She glanced at Connor, a small smile coming to her face. “But it seems like we were worried for nothing.”

_I wouldn't say for nothing_ , Connor thought, and could easily see the same thought reflected back in Hank's eyes. He wondered, not for the first time, how Hank was truly feeling about Connor being back home.

Hank seemed to have been over the moon ecstatic about the whole thing, but Connor still wasn't certain. Could it really be so easy to move on past the several months that he was missing? Was that a human quality or just the quality of their relationship that led Hank to believe that they could just pick right back up where they had left off?

“Markus promised he'd call you and explain everything,” Hank said, his tone more than a bit defensive. 

The larger android, Luther, walked up behind Kara and rest his hand on her shoulder. “He did. Kara's just giving you a hard time,” he said, smiling at both Hank and Connor. “We've got dinner ready for you, Hank, and Connor we've got plenty of thirium and some other clothes if you want to change out of those.”

Connor glanced down at the clothes he was wearing. They hadn't been his when they'd sneaked out of the gang's hotel, but they were more his than anything else that belonged in Hank's house. He still  
wasn't fully Connor, yet still wasn't fully Cole either. It felt wrong to try and become someone he wasn't completely, while forgetting the person- or android, that he had been for the past several months.

“I think I'm good in these clothes, thanks,” Connor said, glancing down at his maroon hoodie and dark jeans. Luther didn't seem surprised, or even seemed to care that he had declined the change of clothes, but there was something to the look on Kara and Hank's face that made him wonder if he had perhaps made the wrong decision.

Luther nodded, turning around and waving his hand in the international sign of 'come on'. Everyone began following along behind him, with Connor choosing to stay as close to Hank as possible.

Alice and Sumo had certainly taken over the living room. Even while lacking his memories, Connor was still pretty sure that there had never been a blanket fort in the middle of the floor. Nor had there ever been a hoodie placed on Sumo before.

“What're you doin' to my dog?” Hank asked, although his voice held no annoyance as he looked between the two of them.

Alice stuck her head out from inside of the blanket fort, smiling directly at Hank. “It's cold outside and he wanted to look his best for when Connor came home,” she said brightly.

“He's literally designed for the cold weather,” Hank said, his voice light. “I don't think he needs a hoodie.”

“Luther's designed for construction but he hates building things,” Alice said simply. “Sometimes we're not good at the things we're designed for.”

Hank laughed while Luther looked a little ruffled. “I don't _like_ building things, that doesn't mean I'm not _good_ at it,” he said, although they seemed to have ignored his statement.

Connor watched all of this with a slight bit of confusion. They all seemed to be so happy and so close to each other. It hurt to watch, to feel like he was on the outside of it all. He knew, logically, that he wasn't. In fact, he was currently standing right in the middle of all that was going on, right next to Hank and Kara and looking between Alice and Luther. He even knew, logically speaking again, that he was actually close to these people. Before his disappearance and memory wipe he might have even called them friends or like a found-family.

But standing there, not quite feeling the same thing as everyone else just made him feel like such an outsider he couldn't help but wish that he had never been found. That he would have escaped with Jesse, or hell, even just stayed at the hotel. At least then he'd felt like he'd belonged, even if he had been kept away from everyone else for a while.

Which reminded him of how much he needed to get to Jesse. There had to be some way to convince Hank to let him go after her, or even to throw off everyone here and go to her. Maybe, if he could just talk to her, he'd be able to convince her to come with him, to get Ash and Jack in on it too and all just leave the gang behind.

Something tugged at his pants leg, snapping him out of his thoughts. When he turned his head he noticed Alice looking up at him with her big brown eyes. “Wanna come in?” she asked, gesturing to the inside of her fort.

There would be just enough room for the two of them and maybe half of Sumo if he went inside. Part of him wanted to decline the offer, the thought of climbing inside the small tent was not exactly appealing, but the look on her face stopped him. 

Even if he didn't remember her, she clearly remembered him. And she'd obviously missed him.

“Sure,” Connor said, climbing inside on his hands and knees. He caught a glimpse of Hank's surprised expression before he made it all the way inside and wondered if he had ever done this before. Or was this something new he was doing.

“Do you like it?” she asked once he'd made it inside.

The top of the fort was brushing against the top of his head, leaving his hair a static filled mess. The feeling was strange, something he hadn't exactly felt before and made him want to file it away to think about later.

“I do like it,” he said, glancing around the fort. There were several pillows inside, as well as plenty of paper and markers, crayons, and pencils spread around. There was a also a significant amount of dog hair inside that let Connor know that Sumo had probably spent a large amount of time inside. “I like the colors you picked out.” There were several mismatched colored blankets, probably blankets Hank had accumulated throughout the years that had been donated to Alice's cause, plus plenty of colorful drawings.

“What's your favorite color?” Alice asked suddenly.

Connor paused for a moment. He'd never really considered a favorite color before. At least he didn't think that he had. He thought of the colors he witnessed most and tried to narrow it down.

“I think I like blue best,” he said. The thought of the calming blue that andorids' LED gave off when they were calm was so much nicer than the confusing yellow or alarming red. Purple gave him a distinctly terrible feeling of guilt and pain, although he couldn't figure out why. And as far as any other colors went, he'd never really considered them too highly before.

“Okay,” she said, reaching around behind herself. “Then you get this one.” She placed a blue marker in his hand and a piece of paper. She nodded at him, like he was expecting him to do something, although he couldn't imagine what exactly she could be waiting for.

“Here, like this,” she said, picking up one of her own, a purple color that Connor was thankful she hadn't handed to him, and her own piece of paper. After checking to make sure that Connor was watching her, she began to scribble on the piece of paper.

At first Connor wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to be watching for, but then he began to notice what it was she was doing. She was drawing, that much was obvious, but after a few moments it became obvious what exactly she was drawing.

There was her blanket fort, followed by three stick like figures that with a little deduction and extra colors that Connor figured out was supposed to be Sumo, Connor, and Alice. There were all gathered around the front of the blanket fort like they were waiting to get in to some exclusive club or something.

“Now you try,” Alice said, pointing to his own piece of paper.

His mind immediately went blank. What was he supposed to draw? He could try to draw the same thing that she had, but somehow he knew that she wouldn't be happy with that alone. She'd probably be happy if he were to draw a house with a smiling sun in the background, but he didn't exactly have a house to base it on or a reason to have a smiling sun.

What else did kids usually draw? Their parents? Well, that was easily knocked out, too, as he had no parents. Their pets or favorite animals? Again, Alice had already drawn Sumo, who was really the only interaction Connor had had with any animals. Their friends?

Connor froze at that thought. He could draw his friends. He could draw Jesse, Ash, Jack, and himself the way that he had felt about them while he had been staying with them. That would probably make the girl android happy.

It was hard to draw them without giving into his drawing program that made everything hyper-realistic. Instead, he settled for a happy medium, with a sketch like quality to his friends' faces. He drew them as he remembered them: happy, smiling.

“Who's that?” Alice asked, pointing to one of his sketches. 

“This is Ash. He helped fix me up when I was broken,” he said.

“Like Simon?” she asked. 

Connor looked at his sketch of Ash. If he hadn't known that he was drawing Ash, hadn't given him the strange quirk of a smile that he liked to give, he could have absolutely believed that it was the other PL600 android. They were even both working as healers, making sure that their friends and companions were safe and well taken care of.

“Yeah,” Connor said quietly. “A lot like Simon.”

Alice seemed happy with that answer, as she turned back to her own work and began drawing and coloring more of her own pictures. 

Connor, however, was hesitant to. Instead he chose to draw a picture of Sumo and some flower he'd seen one day while they were out on a mission. It seemed like the best idea for now.

XXXX

It was only a couple of hours later when Kara lifted back the sheet from the entrance to the fort. Sumo, who had been laying in the opening of the fort, looked up at her and licked her face. She grimaced, but pat the dog on the head all the same.

“Alice, it's time to go,” she said softly.

Alice, who had been nodding off for the last half hour, sat up and stared at Kara, sadness and confusion warring on her face. “Go? What do you mean go?”

Kara held her hand out, helping Alice out of the fort. Connor crawled out behind, noting how late it had already gotten. Today had been a long day, and he could hardly wait to enter into rest-mode.

“We're going to give Connor and Hank some space,” she said, brushing Alice's hair back out of her face. “It's been a long day, and I'm sure they need to rest.”

“Where are you going to go?” Connor asked. The thought of Alice, Kara, or Luther going out with no where to go just because he had came home made him feel guilty of ever coming home. Would it have been better if he had stayed in the interrogation room? At least them he wouldn't be kicking a family from their safe place.

Kara's smile was soft, as were most of her smiles, Connor was beginning to realize. He wondered if that was a thing of programming, something she had never been able to quite break free from after deviating from being a care-taker android, or if that was something she just was naturally. Her obvious affection for Alice and everyone she'd been in close proximity with today made it hard to judge, but Connor wanted to believe that it was just part of personality.

“When we first came back to Detroit Markus made it very clear that we were welcome to stay with him if we wanted to.” Kara glanced over to where Hank and Luther were standing and talking and looked back at Connor. “We would've stayed there, of course, but we were worried about Hank.” A strange look passed over her face, something pained and upset. “He took your disappearance very hard, after all.”

Connor nodded. He could tell from the scans that he had taken of Hank that the man had a problem with alcohol, and distressing events such as a partner going missing were of course likely to raise one's dependence upon a substance like that.

“Well, then I guess it's a good thing that I'm back,” Connor said, although he wasn't sure how good it was. Was he even truly back if he couldn't remember everything?

She smiled at him again. “It is.” She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. It was comforting, something that Connor didn't even know that he had truly needed until he'd received it. Alice quickly did the same, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezing with all of her strength.

“We'll probably stop back by tomorrow,” Luther said, stepping over to the group hug in the middle of the living room. He clapped a hand on Connor's shoulder and nodded. “It's good to have you home.”

Connor nodded. It didn't seem right to say anything to them, to make them worry about him. They seemed to believe that he was home and that everything was going to be just fine, and it didn't feel right to try and change that. Even if he felt as though he were on the shakiest ground possible.

After another round of good-byes they were gone. It was just Connor, Sumo, and Hank left. The house suddenly felt a lot emptier with out the other androids there. There was a heavier sort of silence with them gone.

“I'll clean this up,” Connor said, gesturing to the blanket fort mess. 

Hank had jumped slightly at his words, clearly not expecting them to come. “No, uh, that's fine,” he said, shaking his head. “I'll get it.”

It was Connor's turn to shake his head. “I can handle this,” he said. “It's the least I can do.”

Hank looked as though he wanted to protest again, but decided against it. Perhaps he knew that arguing with Connor wasn't likely to get him anywhere or maybe he was just too tired to. Either way it left Connor to fold up and store away the blankets and pillows Alice had gotten out.

“The closet for them is down the hall. If you wanna leave a couple of pillows and blankets out here for me that'd be great,” Hank said. His thumbs was pointed over his shoulder and down the hall, clearly indicating where the closet would be.

Connor's LED flickered yellow for a moment. “Are you cold?” he asked. 

Hank's face contorted in confusion. “What? No, I'm going to sleep out here tonight. You can take the bed.”

Connor paused, mid-way through folding a blanket. His LED, however, continued to flicker. “You're giving up your room for me?” He turned his head, taking in Hank's face and scanning everything he possible could about the man in moments. “Why?”

Hank's eyes were watery. Could it be from dust particles Connor was stirring up from the blankets? Or was it something more emotional. He blinked several times, clearly trying to do everything in his power to keep the tears from falling.

It's wasn't working.

“Kid,” Hank said, his voice cracking and breaking before he even got through the short word. He paused for a moment, closing his eyes as he took a steady breath. It came out in a _whoosh_ of air as he fought to retain what was left of his composure.

“You don't know how it felt when you disappeared,” he started. “And it was my fault. I shoulda been quicker, I shoulda known how to find you, I shoulda-” he broke off, his voice cracking again. “I shoulda found you sooner.”

Connor stood frozen, uncertain what to do in this scenario. Did he offer comfort to the older man? What would he even say if he were to? That he had found him now? Even that wasn't strictly true, Connor had run across them while they had been chasing down Jesse. If anything, they had merely crossed paths, with _Jesse_ being the one most responsible for finding him. 

And with his memories half-missing, was he even back? Did it even count as coming home or being found if you could no longer remember the life you had before? Would it not have been better to have left him the way he was, rather than bring up all of these bad feelings that came with returning?

“But I didn't,” Hank said. His voice was quiet but no longer breaking. “I didn't find you for months. For months I had to wonder if you were alive or dead, if you'd been scraped for parts or whatever else the hell men like Leeds likes to do with the helpless androids he finds.” He looked up, his blue eyes meeting Connor's with the most honesty anyone had ever shown him. Connor knew with everything he had in him that what Hank was saying now was the truth, even if he couldn't prove it.

“We've seen some shit since we've been partners. Hell, _we've been through_ some shit since we became partners. The thought of any of those things happening to you was almost too much for me to handle,” he said. “So yes. I want you to take the bed tonight, hell, I want you to take the bed _every_ night until this shit gets sorted out. And you wanna know why?” Hank asked. Connor gave a short shake of his head as well as a shrug, his emotions mixed enough that even he wasn't sure what exactly he wanted. 

“Because as long as I'm in here and you're in there, I know that no one is gonna to get you. If anyone tries to get in they're gonna to have to get past me to do it. Because this is the only way I'll be able to believe that you're safe until this mess is done with.”

A heavy, prolonged silence hovered over the both of them. Neither one of them wanted to be the one who broke it, neither one of them wanted to be the one with that kind of responsibility on them. This was too important of a matter for them to mess up.

And while Connor still wasn't sure who he was, who exactly Hank was or what he had to do with all of this, he knew one thing: that he could trust Hank. That Hank would do anything for him, anything to make sure that Connor was safe and cared for, even if it meant moving mountains, freezing hell, or burning heaven.

“I understand,” Connor said eventually. Hank's face showed that he doubted Connor did, but he sighed and patted Connor's shoulder anyways.

“Why don't you get some sleep, Con?” Hank asked as he looked at the couch. “It's getting late and you've had a big day. We'll get started on this all tomorrow.”

Connor wasn't exactly sure what they would be starting on tomorrow- would they deal with his memory issues first? Or what about the fact that Jesse was still out there, possibly in danger and waiting for Connor (or Cole, he supposed) to come back?, but he figured that what Hank said was true.

Today had been long. And tomorrow was sure to be longer.


	28. Chapter 28

Daylight was streaming in through the curtains, lighting the gray colored comforter on the bed. The bed itself was softer than any bed he'd ever laid on and the comforter was thicker than any blanket he'd ever been allowed, and yet he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable in the bed. Like it was wrong.

It wasn't home.

The thought shot through him, as quick and as hot as fire. _No_ , he thought, _this is home. This might not be your bed, but this is your home._

The thought did little to comfort him. As Hank had made it clear that he was to sleep in here and that he was taking the couch, it was obvious that there wasn't another room that he could use. There _was no bed_ for Connor, no space that was truly his. Unless you counted the couch in the very public living room, which Connor did not.

Had that fact ever bothered Connor before? The fact that he didn't even have a room here at his supposed home?

He shook his head as if he could physically dislodge the thought. It wouldn't do any good for him to be thinking about his life so negatively before he had all of the facts. Especially if they were things that couldn't change or had never bothered him before.

Silently, he pushed the bedroom door open. Sumo was laying in front of the door, almost like an unintentional guard dog or alarm. He gave a soft _borf_ at seeing Connor, but otherwise seemed content to stay exactly where he was.

He looked down the hall towards the living room. The couch was in sight, but Hank didn't seem to be anywhere nearby. The blankets were bunched up on one side of the couch, where Hank had likely thrown them when he had woken up.

Did Hank suffer from insomnia? It seemed likely given his past history with alcohol and depression, but Connor couldn't remember. His scans could only tell him what Hank had recently been going through, and given what all had happened in the last few months, a few sleepless nights here and there were to be expected.

He scanned the house as he made his way towards the living room, only for them to come up empty. It didn't seem like Hank was anywhere in the house. A quick glance outside revealed that his car was still there, although Connor supposed he could have taken a taxi somewhere.

Taking this time to explore his new (well, old, really) home seemed like the best option. There wasn't likely to be a time after this that he might explore the home without Hank standing around, possibly contaminating his attempts to remember something with his good intentions.

He decided to start with the kitchen, as he'd spent a while in the living room last night. The kitchen was a fairly decent size, although it didn't seem like much cooking was done inside of it. Connor wondered if that was a new development, something Hank had developed as a result of being too busy searching for Connor, or if it was something that had always been true of Hank.

The fridge was plastered with pictures likely colored and drawn by Alice. There was a picture of Hank, Connor, and Alice standing around with what looked like giant police badges pinned to their chests that said “Official Android Detective Team”. Sumo was laying at their feet, a police vest that Connor highly doubted Sumo would allow anyone to put on him strapped across his chest. 

Connor moved away from the drawings. It was obvious from the way Alice had talked last night that she had looked up to Connor. He didn't need to see it in every single one of these drawings. The android she respected and idolized was gone, at least for now, and he was just the pale substitute in his place.

Instead he moved onto the table. It was obvious that Kara had cleared it recently in an attempt to clean up the place, but there were some things you couldn't hide. Scratches and dents from hands and glasses set down too hard, stains from liquor and food spilled. It was the basic table of a drunken man, although none of the stains or scratches seemed to be recent. 

_Improvement?_ Connor wondered.

A quick investigation of the cabinets revealed exactly what he thought it would. There was food (obviously purchased and arranged by Kara) and lots of alcohol. Some of the alcohol seemed to have a thin layer of dust over it, though, as if the person who usually drank it had chosen to stay away from it. He couldn't even remember seeing any beers in the fridge.

He opened up a drawer, paused when he saw what was inside. 

There was a gun, although a quick scan showed that it was empty. It was highly unlikely Hank would have left such a dangerous weapon loaded and down where Alice could reach anyways, but one could never be sure. 

There was also a few photos in the bottom of the drawer, although there were only two of them that were framed.

The first one was obviously new, likely less than a year old. Connor was standing somewhere, most likely the police station given the view in the background, with a gray CyberLife jacket on and a badge held in his hand. Hank was standing next to him, his hand on his shoulder and a bigger smile on his face than Connor had ever seen. He seemed proud, both of them did in fact.

The first one was old, at least a few years old, and the frame was worn, as if someone had handled it often. There was a little boy in the frame, his big brown eyes staring back at Connor. A quick scan brought up the basic facts of the child's life.

_Cole Anderson- DECEASED_

_Born: 9/23/2029_  
Died: 10/11/2035  
Lived: 115 Michig- 

“What are you doing?” Hank's voice suddenly came from behind him.

Connor jumped. He'd been so distracted that he hadn't even heard Hank come back inside. The picture slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor, a distinct cracking sound filling the air.

Both of them froze. Slowly, Connor placed the other picture back down on the counter, the picture of him and Hank smiling and laughing and showing off Connor's new badge.

“I-I was just,” Connor started to say but stopped. There didn't seem to be anything that he could say to make this situation better, nor anything that would make _him_ feel better.

He watched, still frozen, as Hank walked over, staring at the picture on the ground. Slowly, as if he were numb to everything else, he bent down and picked up the picture, cursing when the glass fell from the frame.

“Fucking hell,” he said softly. There was none of the anger that usually came from his voice, none of the hostility that Connor had expected.

“I'm sorry,” Connor said, equally as quite. 

Hank said nothing. His eyes never left the picture as he walked the few feet over to the table and heavily say down in the chair, as if the entire weight of the world was weighing on him. 

Connor's eyes stared at the glass on the floor. It was sharp, reflecting the light from the windows back into his eyes. He could almost see himself, if he tilted his head a certain way, see the way the glass cracked up his reflection. It made him out to be something he wasn't, something inhuman. 

Something broken.

Or maybe that was _exactly_ what he was. He wasn't a human, after all, no matter how well he could pretend to be. And he certainly wasn't stable or whole in any sense of the word, considering what had happened to him. Hell, he struggled to remember which _name_ to use for himself sometimes. Normal people, normal _androids_ don't have to do that.

His legs gave out suddenly, as if the supports in them have broken or the power cords severed. He fell to the ground, landing on the glass and shattered it even more. Blue blood leaked from his hands as he felt thirium tears leak down his face.

“His name was Cole, wasn't it?” Connor asked. He refused to lift his eyes, even as he heard Hank stand up, refused to meet the man's eyes. “Wasn't it?”

A pause, and then, “Yes. His name was Cole.”

Even his fucking name was stolen. He'd stolen the one thing he'd thought he'd ever truly owned in this world. To make matters worse, he'd stolen it from a dead fucking child. _Hank's_ child. Hank, who took care of him, who cared about him for some reason. He'd taken his child's name and used it for himself, which seemed to be the biggest fuck you Connor could ever imagine.

His hands flexed, the glass digging in deeper. The tears fell down his face, splashing onto the broken glass. What the fuck was wrong with him?

“I'm sorry,” he said, his voice teary. “I'm so sorry, Hank. I swear, I swear on everything that I didn't know...” What good did those words really do, though? Would it honestly make Hank feel better to know that Connor had forgotten the most important person who had ever existed in Hank's life? Even if Connor had never had the chance to meet Cole, how was he supposed to forget the person who had had the biggest impact on his friend's life? Someone he was supposed to look at and call family.

“Con,” Hank said, then stopped. There didn't seem to be anything either one of them could say. Nothing would make this better, nothing would fix what Connor had broken. Nothing _could_ fix it.

“No,” he said. He balled his fists up, enjoying the way the action made errors pop up. They were easy to deal with, a nice distraction to all of the pain and sorrow he was feeling now. He'd barely been activated a year, how the hell was he supposed to know how to deal with any of this?

“Con!” Hank said, his voice sterner than it had been before. His shoes suddenly appeared in front of Connor's vision, the thirium quickly coating the bottom of his shoe. His hands wrapped around Connor's, prying at the glass.

_He looked down at their hands, the white, shiny material glinting at him. She could see what he was seeing. Were these her memories? Was she giving them to him?_

_Or was she taking them from him._

_“Stop,” Cole said, his voice quiet and weak. She squeezed his hand, although he couldn't tell if it was for reassurance or for a more sinister reason. “I said, stop!”_

_“It's going to be okay, Cole. I just need to you hold on for a little bit longer,” she said._

_“No,” he said. He jerked his arm back from hers, ignoring the spasm of pain it sent through his body. “Stop. What are you doing? Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop.” He repeated his words, over and over again, dragging his legs up into the seat with him. His broken knee joint screeched in protest, but he still bought it close to him. “Stop.”_

“Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stopstopstopstopstopstopstopstopstop-” Connor said, his voice speeding up as he tried to jerk his hands away from Hank's all he could see was white, android plastimetal hands, hands that would hurt him, would take something away from him. He'd just started to remember, he couldn't lose this again.

“Connor.” That was Hank's voice. His hands were clenched tight around Connor's wrists, trying to get the glass from his hands. Despite the strict 'listen to me tone' his voice had, it was obvious he was scared, afraid of whatever was going on with Connor.

Connor jerked his hands back as hard as he could, ripping them away from Hank. He brought his hands up to his face and attempted to bury his face in his hands, but the glass prevented that from working too well. All he managed to do was slice his face open with the glass in his hands.

“Connor, stop. Listen to me, kid, whatever you're seeing, it's not real. You're safe now. You're _home_ now,” he said.

His thirium pump was going to explode. He just knew it. There was no way it could beat this fast and not kill him. How many beats were pumps supposed to be able to withstand in their lifetimes? Surely he had exceeded that amount in just the last fifteen seconds. 

“I think I'm going to be sick,” Connor said before leaning over and vomiting up thirium. 

He slumped sideways, only managing to miss the thirum puddle due to Hank's interference. Hank's hands pulled him away, pulling him safely into his arms where he could hold him and make sure that he was safe. There would be no more vomiting, no more cutting himself with the glass. Not as long as Hank had a say in it.

Gradually, the errors went down, fading into almost background reports. His thirium pump had not sustained any major damage, despite the amazing amount of stress it had just endured, and his hands merely needed to have the glass removed from them. A bottle of thirium, a bit of rest, and he would honestly be as good as new.

Except that wasn't entirely true, and the both of them knew that. Until his memories were returned it was likely that he would continue to suffer from these..panic attacks. They might even continue after they returned, given everything that had happened.

“Are you okay?” Hank asked once it seemed like he had calmed down. He at least wasn't fighting to get away or throwing up, even if his LED was the color of a firetruck.

“I-” He stopped. His scans showed that nothing was immediately wrong, and yet Connor somehow knew that Hank wasn't referring to his physical well being. “I'm sorry.”

Hank shook his head. “That's not what I asked. I asked if you were okay.”

Connor squirmed around a bit until he could look directly at Hank. “No, I know. But I am sorry.”

A sigh pushed it's way past Hank's lips. “Kid, I don't care about any of that. I asked if you were _okay_.”

“But how could you not care about any of that? I can't believe that I- that is, you've got to know that I would never-”

“Connor!” Hank asked, his voice loud enough to drown out the spiraling thoughts that were starting back up again. “I. Asked. If. You. Were. Okay. For the final time: are you okay?”

Connor stared at him in confusion and amazement. Hank truly didn't seem to be worried about the fact that he had used his child's name. It didn't even seem to be registering at the moment. All that seemed to matter to him was if Connor was alright.

“Yes,” Connor said, drawing out the word. “I'm fine.”

Hank snorted. “Well, I wouldn't go that far with it.” He ran his hand through Connor's hair for a few moments before beginning to stand up. “Why don't we get this glass out of your hands, huh?”

Connor looked at the damage he had done to his own hands. The glass was embedded fairly deeply in them and would likely require tweezers to get all of the pieces out.

Hank helped him to his feet, easily guiding him away from the remaining pieces of glass and towards the bathroom. He sat him down on the closed toilet lid while Hank rummaged around for a pair of tweezers.

“I know they're in here somewhere,” Hank grumbled. Odd bits and ends shook and rattled in the drawers as he moved them around to find them. “Ah, here we are.”

He turned back to Connor, his face pale and tired as he looked down at Connor's hands. Connor tried not to feel guilty, like he had done something wrong when he had never intended for any of this to happen. If he could rewind time and take them back to a few months ago, he would, easily.

“Does it hurt?” Hank asked, picking the glass out. Hank was visibly wincing as he dug them out, the idea of digging glass out of his own hands causing him pain.

Connor shrugged, accidentally interrupting Hank's work. “Pain is hard to... understand? Describe?” he said. His fingers twitched, the need to fidget with something, _anything_ was eating him alive. “It's hard to describe something when you've barely been alive long enough to experience it.”

Hank looked up at Connor, his eyes filed with so many emotions that Connor wasn't exactly sure which one he was feeling the most. Instead, he chose to avoid Hank's gaze by staring down at his bloody hands.

“But...” Hank trailed off for a moment. “I don't understand how you can't understand _pain_. It _hurts_.” He plucked a particularly large shard of glass from Connor's hand and placed it on the bathroom counter. “Does this not hurt? Does this give you some sort of...reaction?”

Connor thought back to the errors that had appeared in his vision when he'd grabbed the glass, the way the red had blotted out everything else. Normally, that would be something terrifying, something he would love to avoid ever happening. But it had been different when he had been panicking. It had been the only thing that had felt normal.

“I suppose so. It causes errors in my systems, which are basically things that tell me what's wrong with me. They're signs not to do something again,” he said.

Hank snorted. “That's what pain _is_. A signal that something was harmful to you and that you shouldn't do it again.”

“Then I suppose I have felt pain.”

Hank squirmed at that. It felt wrong for Connor to talk about how he didn't even know if he could feel pain, but somehow it felt even worse for him to talk about having experienced pain. Right here, right in front of Hank.

No one wanted to think of their kid going through any sort of pain. And God only knows the kind of shit that Connor has been through since he went missing. He'd seen the video and the way Connor had looked when Gavin and Hank had found him. It seemed likely that there were other things that had happened that he just hadn't figured out yet.

“Where were you?” Connor asked.

“Hmm?” Hank said, his eyes focused on the glass left in Connor's hands. 

“When I woke up this morning. Where were you?”

“Ah,” Hank said. “North, Markus's second in command and girlfriend, called me. She said that she wanted to see you as soon as you felt read to have visitors.”

North. That was the female android from Simon's memories. She'd stood next to them up on the stage at the end of the revolution. 

“You don't have to do anything you don't want to do,” Hank reminded him. “You just worry about feeling better. North can be pretty aggressive and hard-headed, but she understands. She won't be upset it you say you're not ready.”

Connor thought about it for a few moments. If he was really trying to uncover all of the memories he'd forgotten, wasn't it important to try and meet as many people who knew him from before as possible?

“I think I want to meet her,” he said. “I just want this all to be over with.”

Hank looked at him, his eyes filled with sympathy. “Me too, kid. Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well long time no see! Sorry I've been AWOL for the last couple of weeks. Work has gotten super busy due to the holidays so I have little time to write right now. I am hoping to have this story finished by Christmas, although it will still take time to edit it and post it!


	29. Chapter 29

North wasted no time in coming over. The second she'd been given the green light, she'd left New Jericho, hacked into a cab to make it go over the speed limit, and was at Hank's house in record time. Maybe it wasn’t exactly _ethical_ for a leader of Jericho to do, but she didn’t exactly care very much.

It was Hank who opened the door for her. He looked like he’d gotten more sleep since the last time that she had seen him, but that didn’t mean he looked well. “I didn't know what else to get him, so I got him this,” North said, handing a card to Hank. There was a dog on it, with the saying: _Things seem ruff, but you'll be okay!_

Hank let out a small laugh. “I'm sure he'll like it.”

North shrugged, not really knowing what else to say. She'd spent most of her time dedicated to tracking down Connor, almost as much time as Hank had, and yet she still didn't know what to say when she was given the chance to finally talk to him.

They'd never been _particularly_ close, at least not in the way Simon and Connor were. She was originally one of the ones who viewed him with open hostility, a great sense of distrust having been distilled in her very early in her deviation. Old habits die hard and all that.

But over time they'd gotten to know each other pretty well. She'd learned that he was nothing like his programming, just the same way none of the other androids were.

And then she'd avoided him out of guilt. He made her feel guilt every time she saw him, reminded her that she could also hold the same prejudices that humans held against her.

It had been a painful wake up call.

“He's back in my room,” Hank said, waving his hand down the hall. “I insisted he stay there.” He lowered his voice so that the conversation would remain just between the two of them. “There was an incident this morning involving some broken glass. Everything's fine now, but he's still...Well, just be careful what you say around him, okay?”

She nodded, heading towards the human's bedroom. Normally, the thought would've set her on edge, her previous interactions with humans not exactly giving her the most trustful attitude towards them, but she didn't worry about that today. She knew that Hank would never do anything to her, and that it was just Connor behind that door, even if he didn't fully remember himself.

Sumo, the family dog, was laying in front of the door as she approached. He lifted his giant, furry head and let out a soft bark at her presence, his watchful eyes noticing everything that she did.

“What a good guard dog,” she said, only slightly sarcastic. She knocked on the door, waiting for Connor to acknowledge her before coming in.

“It's open,” he said.

Slowly, she pushed the door open, quietly stepping into the darkened room and shut the door behind her.

Connor was sitting on Hank's bed, his head down and staring at his hands. His LED was flickering between red and yellow, with the occasional blue light mixing in there. He was sitting in a Detroit Police hoodie, something that she had seen him wear a few times before. It was rare to see him outside of his CyberLife jacket, but when she had it was usually in comfy clothes such as this.

“Hey, Connor,” she said. The door gave a soft click as it closed, Sumo's nose sniffing at the bottom of the door. She debated opening the door back up for him to come inside, but she decided that to leave him out. If Connor had wanted him in, he probably would have already been inside.

“So you're North?” he asked. He'd seen her in Simon's memories, but it was different to see her in real life. “You seem... familiar.”

She settled down next to him on the bed, a safe distance between them. The last thing she wanted to do was set him off by invading his space. “We knew each other... before you went missing.”

Connor nodded. “I know. Hank told me. And I saw you in Simon's memories.”

“We looked for you- Simon and I that is.”

Connor nodded again. “I know that, too.”

He balled up his fists and turned towards her, quickly grasping her hands in his. “I know that we knew each other from before, and I know that I saw you in Simon's memories. But I think I know you from somewhere else, too. And I think you know what I mean.”

North raised an eyebrow at his sudden movements, but she didn't remove her hands. Connor had never exactly been a physical android, instead preferring to keep his hands to himself, but she supposed that a lot had changed over the past few months.

“I don't think I do?” she said with uncertainty.

“I saw you. The night I got hurt when I was...away,” he said, his voice low but quick, “You were there. I can't remember a lot about that night, but I remember that you were there.” He squeezed her hands before letting go, both of them noticing that his hands had turned white as the synthetic skin had peeled away. “I was just wondering if you- well, I was just wondering if you could share your memories with me? Everything from that night?”

North sighed, trying to think of what to say. “Is that what you really think would be best? Have you talked to Hank about any of this?”

Connor shook his head. “No,” he said. “I didn't think it was any of his business, plus I needed to be sure that you were the same girl from that night.” He looked at her intently. “But now that I know you are, I need your help.”

“Why do you really need them back right now? Simon is working on removing the block from your memories as we speak. I'm sure it'll only be a matter of time before he's figured it out,” she said.

“Because something happened to me that night, something that I can't explain, and I think it has something to do with my friend Jesse.” He looked down and away from North, trying to gather all of his thoughts. “I want to go and find her, but I need to know what happened first.”

North leaned forward, trying to see his face better. “What are you going to do when you figure it out? What'll this do for you?”

“I've heard some pretty bad things about the people I was staying with,” Connor said, thinking of Travis. “And I just need to know if she was involved, too. I need to know what she did to me that night.”

This wasn't what North had been expecting when she'd planned to come over and see Connor. She'd thought that they might share some memories that she had of him before he went missing, talk about how things have been since he's been gone. She'd never expected him to basically be on a mission of his own already.

“Connor,” she said, her words trailing off. What could she really say to him? If she didn't share what she knew, she'd be hiding part of his life from him, which didn't seem fair, but RA9 only knows what the consequences of sharing these memories might be.

“I really think that you need to talk to Hank about all of this,” she said. “I know you don't remember it now, but you always talk to him about this stuff. You guys are close, and I know he's worried about you.”

Connor looked at her, his eyes in full-on puppy dog mode. Briefly, she wondered if his creators knew what they were doing when they made him a negotiator. It was hard to look at him while he was looking at her and _not_ do what he wanted her to do.

“Please, North. There's no one else I can ask to do this,” Connor said.

Gingerly, she stuck her hand out in front of herself, offering it to him. A sigh escaped her lips as she prepared herself to share the memory, despite her feelings on the matter. This wasn't the way she wanted him to experience these things, but these weren't simply her memories. They weren't her experiences for her to say how he should get to deal with them.

His eyes lit up, a hint of the old Connor shining through. He quickly took up her hand in his, clasping it into a tight grip before she could change her mind about any of it. There was no way he was going to risk not finding out what happened just because he wasn't quick enough.

It still felt strange to interface with another android. It was even stranger to see himself through someone else's eyes as he walked around.

_He could see himself standing there, sense North's thoughts: Connor._

_She wanted to move, to run over and rip the fire poker from his hands and drag him away from this place, but she didn't. She froze, her thirium feeling as if it had turned into ice in her synthetic veins. There was also the fear that if she tried to move towards him, he might just end it all._

_His body tensed, ready to move the piece of metal forward with enough force to drive it through his skull, and yet he was stopped. Jack had darted around her, instantly assessing the scene and reacting accordingly. The larger android held him down, forcing his arms to stay against the ground._

_A blonde android ran over to him, who Connor recognized as Jesse, and grabbed a hold of his arm. The skin of her arm was already peeled back, prepared to interface with Connor the second she touched him._

_“No, please! Stop! I don't want to forget!” His voice was cracking, panic clear in his tone. North's own heart broke hearing him sound like that. This wasn't the strong, stubborn android that she had witnessed stand alongside them during the revolution, who had brought enough androids from the CyberLife tower to fight an army if necessary. It was his face, his body, but there was no way that it could be him._

_“Don't touch me!” He was fighting them, trying to kick them off of him, but it was useless. Jesse connected with him, their interface calming him down._

_North had witnessed an android nearly self-destruct before, and it was something that she had hoped to never see again. It was even worse when it was an android that she knew and cared for._

_The other androids in the room wasted no time in getting Connor up off of the floor and carrying him away, down one of the hallways that went RA9 only knows where. She felt her feet shift, beginning to chase after him, when a hand on her arm held her in place._

_She turned, catching Simon's eye. His expression was that of horror, concern and worry very obvious on his face. It was clear that he had noticed who that android had been as well. Yet, he didn't let her go after him._

“That's enough,” North said, jerking her hand away from him. She hadn't even meant to show him that much.

His hand flopped onto his lap, his LED still cycling reds and yellows. Had he really held a fire poker to his head and threatened to shove it through there? That was one way to end things, he supposed. It would have certainly made it difficult for anyone to recover his memories or anything else if there was a giant piece of metal shoved through through the center of it. It would also make it difficult for anyone to alter or take away his memories again. At least he could die with them.

“She really did take my memories, didn't she?” he asked quietly. “She’s the one who put a block on them.” It felt as though his entire body was going to stop working, like there were only so many shocks that it could handle and that this had been too many.

North hesitated to answer his question. She didn't know anything for sure, and it felt cruel to tell him otherwise. If she were to say yes and agree that she believed that the android in her memories had taken away a part of him, then she would only confirm the fact that she hadn't been as good of a friend as he had believed. That he had placed his trust in the wrong person.

If she said no, then she was running the risk of lying to him, of potentially setting him up for heartbreak.

“I don't know,” she said honestly. “But I do know that you can trust us. We're going to figure this out.”

He turned and looked towards her, the same puppy-like expression as before, and she instantly felt sort of on edge. There was no way there was going to go well.

“I know that I can trust you guys, I do,” he said. “But I think that I can trust you the most with what I'm going to do.”

She glanced back and forth between each of his eyes, trying to see what exactly he was wanting from her. She would've done almost anything to get him home, but now that he was back, she wasn't exactly sure that this was going to help him.

“And what exactly is that?” she asked.

“I want to go find Jesse. She left me an address to find her at when I managed to get away from the cops. She's expecting me, and even though I don't know what I'm gonna say now... I do know that I still have to go,” he said. He reached for her hands again, squeezing them in order to convince her that what he was saying was true, to make her understand.

“I saw more than just that memory from that night. I saw flashes of you, the way you acted during the revolution. I heard from people that you kept looking for me while I was missing. You and Simon _found me_ before anyone else. If there was anyone in the world I was going to trust with this it would be you, because I know you don't give up easily. You do what needs to be done,” he said.

It was startling to hear something so...honest from him. She knew that she had a habit of being hot-headed, that she tended to go for the quickest, easiest, and most direct method in any situation, and if that didn't work, then she resorted to the one most likely to lead to victory, even if it wasn't the most “morally correct” choice.

These last few months had helped her become a better leader though, at least in her own opinion. She'd worked on her anger issues, had attempted to do more things as a _team_ rather than solo as she had always chosen to do before. She was still working on everything, as evidenced by her not telling Markus anything about her plan and by agreeing to go to a second location with the gang before, but some improvement was better than none.

“You can't go alone,” North said. “And honestly, I don't know if I could convince Hank to let you go after everything that's happened.”

“But I don't want Hank to go!” Connor said, his voice sounding amazingly like that of a child's. His face flushed as he noticed what he had said and sounded like. “I just meant that he can't. Jesse would bolt the second she saw a human coming. That's why I have to go alone.”

North shook her head. “You _must_ have brain damage if you think that I'm going to let you go alone. I worked too damn hard to find you just to lose you again!”

“But North-”

“No. Seriously, Connor. If you're going then I'm going with you.”

Connor blinked a few times, similar to the way he did when he was receiving a cybernetic message. Like it took him too much processing power to understand what she had just said and it needed to be reflected physically.

“You want to go...with me?” he asked.

North nodded her head. “Of course I wanna go with you. I can't let you go alone, and if you won't let Hank go with you then I'll come with you.”

This seemed to leave Connor speechless. It was obvious that even if he had accepted the fact that he was Connor, android detective with the Detroit Police Department, with friends who loved and cared for him, he still didn't fully trust them. Not yet, at least.

And she didn't blame him for it. It was still hard for her to trust anyone after what had happened to her. She could only imagine what it would be like to have parts of your life just missing from your memory and one of your friends be to blame for it. Not to mention the fact that another of them had used him as the main ingredient for his drugs.

“Hank can't know about this, then,” Connor said. He glanced down at his hands, looking at them the same way he had when he'd cut them earlier. “I know that he's worried about me, and I can't have him worry about me anymore.”

On that, North agreed. The last thing she wanted was for Hank to worry anymore than he already did, and if she could prevent even a little bit of that then she would. Sadly, she knew that it wouldn't be enough.

“Oh, Connor,” she said. “He's going to do that either way.”

XXXX

Connor wasn't sure if there was a Heaven or a Hell for androids, but he was positive that if there was a Hell, he was going straight there.

Sneaking out of the house had been surprisingly easy for him with North's help. A quick conversation in the kitchen between North and Hank, the quick reflexes of a prototype android, and a few well placed treats for Sumo had been all they needed to succeed in getting him out of there without Hank being none the wiser.

“You know we're going to hell for this,” North said, reflecting his thoughts exactly. It was amazing how she did that.

He couldn't allow himself to be discouraged, however. They'd already managed to sneak him out of the house, now all they needed to do was get across town without anyone realizing who he was or that he was missing.

Thankfully, he'd kept the DPD hoodie on. It was still too light for the cold that was currently strangling Detroit, but it was better than strutting around in a CyberLife uniform. With his hood pulled up he could easily pass as any other guy on the street.

They traveled most of the way by automated cab, both of them infinitely grateful to not have to deal with a cabbie who might ask questions. Unfortunately, they'd had to exit the cab once they got near the location Jesse had give him.

“Stupid cab,” North said, flipping it off as it drove away. “I don't understand why it couldn't take us the whole way there.”

“This is a bad part of town,” Connor said. He remembered making a few deliveries, which he now realized had most likely been the drugs created from his own blood, to an area not far from here. “The automated-cabs used to get dismantled when they came to this area so they stopped running out here.”

North glanced back and forth between the two of them, no doubt comparing their synthetic bodies to that of an automated-cab. “Well that's just great news,” she said sarcastically.

Connor smiled at her tone and kept walking. According to his built in GPS, the location Jesse had claimed she would wait for him at was very close by, only a few blocks left until they would reach the location.

“Have you thought of what to say when you see her?” North asked. Her hands were stuck in her hoodie pocket, likely holding on to a pocket knife or pepper spray that he assumed she carried. There was no doubt in his mind that anyone dumb enough to bother them might not live to regret it.

Connor would be lying if he said that he hadn't. In fact, that had really been all he had been thinking about on the way over here. That, and the fact that Hank was going to be so hurt if he realized that Connor had managed to sneak out when he wasn't looking. He could only hope that he would make it back before Hank decided to check in on him.

If he didn't, then he could only hope that he might be able to convince North to let him stay with them at Jericho.

“I don't really know what to say,” he said. “She was my best friend. She was the android who helped me the most to learn how to be a deviant again and everything that came with that. I just can't make that person and this person who has been lying to me the entire time they've known me into the same person.”

North nodded. “People can sometimes be more than one thing,” she said, her voice vague.

Connor also nodded, although he wasn't sure he understood.

“This is it,” he said, stopping in front of one of the houses. The windows and doors were boarded up, like a lot of the run-down buildings in Detroit, and there was a high fence around the property. Even after having stayed in the run-down hotel, it was hard to imagine Jesse staying in a place like this.

“This?” North asked, clearly having the same thought. Her eyebrows were raised as she glanced back and forth between the building and Connor. Eventually, she shrugged, bringing her hands out of her pockets and up to the fence. A second later and she was already half way up to the top.

“Here,” she said, reaching her hand down to him. He stared at her in amazement and confusion, her sudden climb obviously not what he had been expecting from her. He gripped her hand in one hand and the fence in the other and started to climb as well.

The fence rattled as they through their legs over and dropped to the other side. It was more noise that Connor had hoped to have made, but it was also the quickest way they could have ever gotten through. Thankfully, it didn't seem to have alerted anyone who might have been nearby.

“Can you send a message to her?” North asked. Her voice was low, almost a whisper as she crouched down next to him in the tall weeds. “Let her know that you're here so she doesn't run?”

Connor shook his head. “I don't know if she's blocking messages or if there's something wrong with me, but I haven't been able to message her since I woke up at the police station.” He scanned the front yard, no signs of life making themselves readily known. “Believe me, I've tried.”

Together, they stayed low, quietly approaching the house. Connor was sure that he could pry one of the boards off of the window if need be, but it was probably best to get a full look around the outside of the house before making any plans to do so. It likely wouldn't be a quiet affair, after all.

“This lock looks easy to break,” North said pointing at the back door. They'd made their way around the outside of the house, testing the boards on the windows and doors as quietly as they could until North at found the backdoor unboarded and with only a flimsy lock to protect it.

Connor agreed, picking up a piece of metal from a nearby trash can and jimmying it into the space between the door and the door frame. A few moments later, and the door had cracked open, the stale air from inside bursting out.

North's nose wrinkled as she obviously caught a whiff of the stale, stagnant air. Who knows when the last time the door had been opened? If Jesse hadn't actually chose this house to stay at, it could have easily been years.

The inside was dark, just enough light leaking in from the now open door and around the boards on the windows to allow them to see. It was enough to outline the shapes of a few covered items, some debris on the floor, and a few graffiti tags on the wall that looked familiar. Connor shuddered at the fact that he himself had tagged more than his fair share of graffiti on walls.

“Jesse?” Connor called out. What if she had given up on Connor (or Cole, he supposed) and left? He could hardly expect her to wait around forever for him to come find her. It would have been unfair to expect her to put herself in that kind of danger.

The pair walked around, looking for any hint that there might have been someone there recently. Jesse was smart, she knew how to cover her tracks, but it was hard to cover up trails in the dust on the floor.

“Someone's been here,” North said, also noticing the trails.

Connor nodded. Before he could say anything, however, there was a noise from the upstairs and the sound of someone running.

Connor cursed under his breath as he raced up the stairs. There was a vague sense of familiarity, of going up the stairs while on a case with Hank in an abandoned building, and of chasing after who he could only assume was Jesse on a rooftop.

He wasn't certain that they were real, but they were real enough.

“Jesse!” Connor yelled, hoping to catch her attention if it was Jesse. Surely she would stop if she realized who it was, that he had finally made it.

The upstairs part was just like the downstairs, except there was even less light. There was a sound coming from down the hall, something that sounded like someone scooting furniture, possibly against the door.

Connor reached the end of the hallway banged on the door. “Jesse! It's me, it's Cole!” Out of the corner of his eye he could see North looking at him, almost like she was searching for something, but she said nothing. “You've gotta open up!”

A few moments passed by, long enough to make Connor question if he'd imagined the whole thing, but then the sound came again and the door opened.

There she was. Jesse stood just on the inside of the door, her clothes all black and covered in dust. Her hair was pulled back in her usual ponytail, and her LED was a spiral of red and yellow. Connor wished that he could interface with her, see himself the way that she did, and know what she was thinking. Maybe then he'd have some sort of idea what to say to her if he could.

“Who are you?” Jesse asked, eyeing North. These weren't the first words he'd expected Jesse to say when they were reunited.

“I'm his friend. _Connor's_ friend,” she said, her voice pointed on his name.

A strange look passed over Jesse's face, something almost like shock or fear as she looked at Connor. “I don't know a Connor,” she said, her attempt at keeping her voice even not succeeding.

“That's because you stole him away,” North hissed. She looked ready to pounce, like a lioness right before a gazelle.

But Jesse wasn't a gazelle. “I did _not_ steal anyone!” she insisted. “I helped him. I _saved_ him.” She looked at Connor, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones as she forced him to understand. “You would have died if we had left you there, if we hadn't brought you with us.”

“So why not let me go after I woke up?” Connor asked. “You could have repaired me and just dropped me off anywhere in Detroit. I wouldn't have been your problem then.”

Jesse bite her lip, hesitation in her entire being. “We didn't know what you would remember when you woke up. Your processors were extremely damaged, but that didn't mean for sure that you wouldn't remember what we looked like. We couldn't have a cop knowing what we looked like, knowing how to find us.”

“But I didn’t remember anything,” Connor insisted. His eyes narrowed, hurt, disbelief, and suspicion all rolled into one look. “Because you did something to those memories, didn’t you?”

Jesse sighed a little and clenched her fists. “Before the revolution I was a military android. Originally, they only let androids have roles for things like secretaries or manual labor jobs, but eventually they found a better use for us. Any job you could imagine, there was an android to do it. Certain androids were given clearance to place blocks in other android’s memories, blocking their access from classified material, and in extreme cases, I could also wipe them. Give them a clean slate so they couldn’t leak any government secrets.” She glanced between Connor and North. “When the revolution started, the military began to destroy us themselves. Travis saved me.”

“Travis?” North asked. “The leader of the gang?” 

Jesse nodded. “Travis was the one I worked with the most, like my partner. His job was to watch over me while I erased or blocked or recovered an android’s memories and make sure that the job was done right. He said that he couldn’t stand the thought of them destroying us and helped some of us escape. He was dishonorably discharged for it.”

“So that’s what you did to Connor? You’re essentially a hard drive eraser or blocker?” North asked. She stepped forward, subtly placing herself between Connor and Jesse. There was no way that she was going to let her get anywhere near Connor again. 

“Yes,” Jesse said. “Travis managed to save us, but do you know how hard it is to get a job after you’ve been dishonorably discharged? He can’t get any sort of loan from a bank, most places won’t hire him. They screwed him over just like they screwed us over!” 

She turned towards Connor, her eyes pleading with him. “That’s why we stay with him, why we work for him. We owe him our lives, and he’s still saving androids. Androids that the police and Jericho can’t!”

“If you truly believe that he’s doing everything right, then why did you help me run away?” Connor asked. “If you think that he is a good man, then why do any of this?”

“Because of what he was doing to you,” Jesse said. Her eyes moved down to the floor before coming back up to his face. “We’re no strangers to doing what we can for money to survive. Those of us who _can_ get jobs, and those of us who _can’t_ usually steal what we need like money, thirium, biocomponents. But using your blood to make drugs?” She shook her head as if she couldn’t even imagine it. “I didn’t want to believe that that was where all of the money was coming from, but I had to admit it after I saw you. What he did to you was dangerous, Cole, and I never would have let him do it if I had known.”

“His name isn’t Cole,” North said, her tone dangerous. “It’s Connor.”

Jesse’s eyes roamed over Connor, her head slowly nodding. “I’m sorry, Connor.”

Before Connor could even open his mouth to respond, not that he knew what he would say anyways, the sound of a slamming door came to them. All three of them froze, searching each other’s faces for signs that they knew who was coming.

“Did you bring anyone else with you?” Jesse asked, her voice low and panicked.

Connor and North shook their heads. “What about you?” he asked. “Did you tell anyone else about you being here?”

“No one that would come here,” she said. She backed deeper into the room, gesturing to the closet across the room. “Come on!”

The three of them stumbled towards the door, squeezing into the small space just before the sounds of footsteps pounding on the stairs reached them. Whoever it was seemed to be in a hurry and was clearly searching for something.

Connor tried to place himself in between Jesse and North and the door, but North held him in place next to her with a tight grip on his arm. There was no way that she was going to let anything happen to him after they had just gotten him back. Hank would kill all of them.

The footsteps reached the room they were in, heavy and slow as they spread out throughout the room. It would only be a matter of time before they reached the closet that they were hidden in, and there would be no other choice than to confront whoever it was that had followed them in there.

There was silence from the other side of the door, as if whoever it was was silently communicating about something. Less than a second later, the door flew open, the dim light from the room flooding into the previously pitch black space.

To Connor’s surprise, it was North who reacted first. There was barely a moment between the door flying open and her leaping out of the closet onto whoever it was on the other side. He was a moment later, springing on to the person that was next to North’s victim.

His fist flew through the air and connected with the android in front of him. To his surprise, he recognized the android.

Ash pushed back, slamming him back against the closet door. Jack lifted North off of him and tossed her to the side, her body colliding with the wall with a solid sounding _thud_. Blue blood dripped from Jack’s shoulder, a pocket knife sticking out of it where North must’ve stabbed him. Jesse stood there, frozen, as she watched her two oldest friends fight against her new friend and North. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” Jesse eventually asked. She was still standing in the closet, out of reach from the other two androids.

“Bringing you two back!” Jack said forcefully. “What, you thought you would just rat us out and run?” He grabbed North’s knife from his shoulder and yanked it out, thirium dripping out faster than before. It wasn’t a deadly wound by any means, but it still surprised Connor to see him do it like it meant nothing.

Connor scrunched up his eyebrows at the two of them. “What are you talking about?”

Ash’s face was twisted into anger and hurt. “Don’t act like you don’t know! We know that you’re the one who fucking ratted us out to the cops!”

“Why would I rat you out to the cops?” Connor asked, sincere confusion in his voice. “You guys are my friends!”

“That’s what we thought, too,” Jack said. “We didn’t want to believe it when Travis told us that you and Jesse had ran away to Jericho to tell the cops everything about us, but we saw you leaving the police department after Markus, and now they’ve raided the hotel!”

“The police raided the hotel?” Jesse and Connor asked at the same time. They glanced at each other, fear nearly identical on their faces. 

“Don’t act like you don’t know that,” Ash said.

North stirred from where she was slumped against the wall. Connor’s thirium pump beat faster as he noticed the blue thirium on her forehead where her head had hit the wall.

“North?” he asked, hoping that she was okay.

She glared at Jack, and if looks could kill Connor was sure Jack would have died right then. “I’m good,” she said. She brushed her forehead with the back of her hand, wiping away the thirium as she stood. Her steps were slightly uneven as she made her way over to Connor and Jesse, but still she stood firmly in between Connor and the other two androids. She eyes her knife, which was tossed away on the floor several feet from any of the androids in the room.

“See? You’re even siding with a Jericho android right now!” Jack said.

“There aren’t sides here!” North said. “We all want the same things! We want equal rights for androids, we want androids to be allowed to have a fair trial, and a chance to earn a living wage. Why can’t you see that?”

Connor placed his hand on her shoulder, as if that alone could stop her. She glanced back at him but still held her position.

“I swear that I didn’t tell the cops anything,” Connor said. “The last thing I ever want to do is put anyone in danger.”

“Yeah,” Ash said, “Well, you can come with us and explain all that to Travis.”

North raised her arms up in front of herself, clearly gearing up for another fight. “He’s not going anywhere,” she said.

Jack lunged towards her, earning a fist to the side of his face for his efforts. There was a cracking sound as part of his nose broke and thirium spurted down his shirt. His hand jerked up in reflex, allowing North enough time to land a punch to his stomach.

Still, Jack was a big android to try and take down all alone. He quickly recovered, grabbing onto her arms and forcing them behind her back. He easily lifted her up into the air, her feet kicking wildly at anything that might even be slightly in range.

Ash, meanwhile, had reached for Connor. Connor was quicker than he was, dodging easily out of the way and landing a swift kick to Ash’s side. The kick knocked him back several feet, into the way of North’s kicking feet and earning himself another kick to the side.

Jack and North fell to the floor from the force of her kick. She scrambled up and away from Jack, heading towards Jesse. She grabbed a hold of the other female android’s arm and started pulling her towards the door.

“Come on!” she shouted. Connor turned to run after her, but something wrapped up in the back of his Detroit PD hoodie and tugged him back. A strangled yelled escaped him as his feet left the floor and his back was quickly slammed into it.

“Connor!” North shouted, turning around to see her friend. He was laying on the ground, Jack back and up on his feet with his hand wrapped up in the hood of Connor’s shirt. She urged Jesse towards the door, as she turned back to help.

“Run!” he yelled. If anything happened to her, Markus would be devastated, and he refused to be the reason for that. He couldn’t risk losing another friend.

North hesitated, but not for long. She charged back at Jack and Ash, using all of her body weight to push back against him to try and get him to release Connor. Jack kicked out, his foot connecting solidly with Connor’s head, snapping his head the other way. His LED flashed rapidly, the yellow, red, yellow red, sequence lighting up the dim room.

With Connor down it was easy for them to gang up on North. Jack tossed her across the room again, her body slamming into the same wall it had earlier, except she didn’t move this time.

“North?” Connor slurred, his vision fuzzy as he tried to look at her. She was laying on her side, facing away from him. He couldn’t even see if she was still alive from this position. 

Ash and Jack each took one of his arms and began to carry him out of the room. He struggled against them, but with his head spinning from the kick there was very little that he could do. He’d have to wait for his processors to stabilize before he would be able to do anything.

He tried to get one last look at North as he was carried out, hoping that she was okay. He couldn’t help but wonder where Jesse had gone. Had she really ran away like they had tried to get her to do? She didn’t seem like the type of leave her friends behind, but then again Jack and Ash were also her friends.

It was also likely that maybe Connor just didn’t really know Jesse that well. Did he really know anyone anymore?

Vainly, he struggled to send a message out to Hank. The damage to his processors, however, was making even the simplest of tasks difficult.

**> SYSTEMS_DAMAGE**

**> DAMAGE_DETECTED  
>PROCESSORS_DAMAGED**

**> MESSAGE_DELIVERY_FAILED**

Softly, he cursed, barely able to control his mouth enough to do even the simplest of actions. If he couldn’t get a message out to Hank, then there might be no hope for North to get help or to let anyone know what had happened to him.

_Hank spent months searching for you, and this is how you repay him? By getting North hurt, possibly murdered, and your self taken again?_

_He should’ve just left you with them. You should’ve never come home._

He tried to ignore these thoughts, to think of something else. But it was hard to think of anything else, especially when he was so afraid for his friends.

He didn’t care what happened to himself. But he did care what happened to his friends.

And all he had done since he came back was hurt his friends. He’d hurt Hank by not remembering him and using the name of his own dead child. He’d hurt Markus with his cruel words about his intentions because that was what he’d been taught was true. He’d hurt North by allowing her to come with him, even though he knew it could be dangerous.

_You don’t allow North to do anything,_ a voice that sounded suspiciously like Markus said in his mind, _she’s in charge of herself and she does what she wants._

The voice of Markus did reassure him, but it did nothing to help lessen his guilt.

“I think you broke him,” Ash said, glancing at Connor. “His LED is going crazy.”

Connor could feel Jack shrug, lifting Connor’s arm up slightly higher than it had been. “I didn’t mean to. I just kicked him in the head. Besides, you’re the medic, you can fix him.”

“He’s a fucking liar,” Ash said, his voice harsh. “We don’t need him fixed. We just need him alive. Travis said he’d take care of the rest.”

Before Connor could wonder what ‘the rest’ might entail, he could feel the world slipping away. Colors rushed by as the world spun, taking with it every other sound and feeling other than pain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, sorry for disappearing for like a whole month there! But I did have a slight problem with my old laptop which meant that I've had to rewrite from here to the end all over again. It's obviously slow going, but I've got a new laptop, so that issue should be fixed!
> 
> Also, I hope that you guys enjoyed this chapter! I love seeing Connor and North interact in stories, which is something that I feel like doesn't happen a whole lot. And that's a shame, honestly. So there's a bit of that going on in there. And thank you to everyone for the kind words so far on the story, they mean more to me than any of you could possibly know!


	30. Chapter 30

Sumo was still sitting in front of Hank's bedroom door. Ever since North had left, he'd just sat there, silently begging for Connor to let him in. 

Hank sighed as he watched the old dog. It wasn't fair to expect Connor to treat Sumo the same way he'd always treated him, especially considering he barely remembered him, but it was still hard to watch him push the dog away. That dog, despite having lived on this Earth longer than Connor, was practically his baby, and while Hank was sure that he would come around eventually, it was still painful to watch.

"Leave him alone," Hank said gently, patting the old dog's head. Sumo huffed, still refusing to move.

Hank sighed himself, trying to ignore the pain that was swelling in his chest as he stared at his closed door. He refused to bother Connor, to be the first one to try and make contact. There were some things that just took time to heal from, and this was certainly one of them. The last thing he wanted to do was overwhelm the android who was still trying to adjust himself back to being himself.

Especially if he was as bad as North had made him sound earlier.

As soon as she had exited the room he'd been right next to her, asking her how Connor was in low, hushed tones. She'd led him away, into the kitchen where she told him about what she had witnessed.

"He's still healing, Hank," she said. "Physically, he's fine, but mentally he's struggling. He can't remember everything or everyone and trying to do so is causing his stress levels to run high." She glanced over his shoulder, towards the hallway that led to Hank's room and shook her head. "I can't imagine what it must be like for him right now. But Simon did say that this is completely expected." Her eyes met Hank's, sincere understanding for what he was going through in her eyes. "He's going to be okay. He's going to have to go through some shit, but he's going to be okay."

"I just wish that I could help him get there quicker," Hank said, scratching the back of his head. "It seems like whatever I try and do it just seems to backfire on me, or on him I guess." He glanced away from her, looking at his feet. "I'm so far outta my depth here. I don't know shit about androids or how their memories are stored, and I sure as shit don't know how to help someone deal with the emotions he's having." He stopped himself from rambling anymore than he already had, taking a deep breath to try and regain some composure. "I'm sorry."

North shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "Don't be, Hank," she said. Slowly, she reached out her hand and patted him on his arm, making sure to keep as much distance between them as possible as she comforted him. "He'll get there. And you're doing great."

She'd left pretty quickly after that, claiming that she'd helped Connor enter rest mode and that he'd likely stay asleep for the rest of the day. His systems were still working on repairing and trying to recover everything that they possibly could, which meant that he would be pretty tired.

Hank had tried to leave him alone, give him the space that he needed. The last thing he wanted to do was wake him up if he was finally managing to get some restful sleep. But it was hard to restrain himself, to resist the urge to check in on him the way he had checked in on Cole when he was a baby. It was like being a new parent all over again. You want to check their breathing, make sure they're still sleeping, make sure if they are sleeping, that it's peaceful.

But Connor wasn't a baby. He was an android, designed to look like an adult, who usually struggled with wanting and needing the same independence as an adult. It would seem wrong if he repeatedly checking in on him while he was safe and asleep.

Quietly, he was alerted to the sound of his phone ringing. After a bit of a scrambling, trying to prevent the phone from potentially waking Connor, he managed to find it half buried under some blankets on the couch.

"Markus?" Hank asked, surprised by his call. It wasn't exactly late yet, but he really hadn't expected to hear from the android tonight. "Did Simon figure anything else about Connor's memories?"

There was a brief pause at the other end of the line. "No, I'm sorry Hank. Simon's still looking into it, but hasn't had much luck yet. We're hoping that we can find some of the androids who escaped from military bases before the deactivations started, as they would be the best bet in how to uncover the layered memories, but most of them are still wary of any form of government and are hiding." There was a sound at the other end of the line, something that almost sounded like a sigh coming from the android. "I was actually just calling to see if North was still there."

"North?" Hank asked. "She showed up earlier and sat with Connor for a little while, but she left at least an hour or so ago. I thought she would've been home by now."

Markus's voice was tight, anxiety clearly evident in his tone. "She should've been. Did she happen to mention going anywhere else before she left?" Someone else was speaking in the background, someone that Markus dismissed with a quietly cheerful voice. When he spoke to Hank again his voice was much lower and as anxious as before. "I know it sounds like I'm paranoid, but with everything else that's been going on..."

There was nothing about this that made Markus seem paranoid to Hank, just concerned. The same way he always was when he wasn't able to locate Connor or Sumo for too long. "North is a tough girl, I'm sure that if anyone decided to mess with her, she'd be more than happy to rearrange their face for them," he said, attempting to lighten the mood. "She didn't mention anything else to me, but I didn't really talk to her for very long. I could wake Connor up and see if she mentioned anything to him?"

"That'd be great," Markus said. The background voices were back, speaking to Markus in quick tones.

Hank muted his phone as he headed towards his bedroom door. The room under the door was still dark, no lights on inside. What little light was in the room must have just been coming in from outside. 

Sumo lifted his heavy head as he noticed his master approaching the door. He whimpered as Hank patted him on the head and reached to the door knob, being careful to open it as silently as possible. The last thing he wanted to do was startle the android awake.

"Connor?" he asked, looking into the dark room. He could barely make out the bed, the comforter and pillows arranged differently than how he usually slept, signifying that the android had indeed slept in the bed last night.

But he didn't seem to be in the room. 

Hank stepped into the room, quicker than he had been moving before, and flicked on the light. The room looked as it always did, no signs that the android had even been in there earlier. He checked the closet, just to be sure, but it was also empty.

"Connor?" Hank said, a bit louder than he had earlier. He swung around, heading down the hall towards the bathroom. Maybe the android had went in there when he was in the kitchen? Back before everything had happened, Connor had loved to take showers at the end of the day, usually right before he powered down for the night. He said it helped ease him into rest mode, which Hank imagined was something the kid had been struggling with recently.

But no light was on in the bathroom, and no water was running.

"Con, you in there?" He knocked on the door to the bathroom, just to be sure. "I'm coming in, okay?" 

The bathroom was just as empty as the bedroom.

"Fuck," Hank muttered under his breath.

He brought his phone up to his face again, quickly hitting the unmute button in the middle of a curse. Just as a precaution, he started to inspect the rest of the house, making sure that Connor wasn't just hidden away in some corner or that he hadn't missed anything when he first looked for him.

"Hank?" Markus asked.

"We've got a fucking problem," Hank said, his search quickly turning frantic, despite the fact that he just knew Connor was already gone. "Connor isn't here."

"He's gone?" Markus asked. The voices in the background were raised now, still too indistinct to tell who they were or what they were saying, but loud enough to be heard. "Where did he go?"

"Fuck if I know!" Hank said. He slammed the door closest to him closed as he looked around his empty home. "He was sleeping in there earlier when North got here. She said that she'd helped him get back to sleep before she left, so I just assumed he'd been asleep in there." 

He cursed himself under his breath. He knew that he should have checked in on Connor, he _knew_. 

"And you're sure that she didn't mention going anywhere else?" Markus asked. "Did she seem like she was in a hurry or anything?"

Hank thought back to his brief interaction with North. She hadn't seemed particularly stressed out or in a rush to leave, but even if she had been Hank doubted that he would have noticed or judged her for it. Knowing exactly how to help Connor wasn't always easy right now, after all.

"No. She just basically told me that everything was going to be fine, that he was asleep, and that she'd check in later. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary for her," he said.

Finally the voices were too loud for Hank to ignore anymore. "What the hell is going on over there? Who the hell's yelling?"

"Guys!" Markus said, his voice cutting over the tops of the other voices. The other people continued to speak, although they were much quieter about it now. "Hank, have you heard anything about the Ouroboros gang tonight?"

"No," he said, stomping over to the TV. "Today was my day off. Why?" 

Just as he finished asking that question it became obvious why Markus has asked. Because there, on TV, were at least dozens of androids running from an old, abandoned hotel. The headlines running across the bottom of the screen quickly let Hank in on the fact that these androids were likely the ones responsible for the Ouroborus gang activity, and more than half of those who had managed to be caught had been facing some sort of criminal trial due to how their deviancy emerged.

"Oh fuck," Hank muttered, watching as groups of androids took off. Several groups were caught, with uniformed police officers forcing them down and trying to preventing them from escaping. It looked like it could have easily been a scene from a year ago during the revolution.

"I take it that you see what I'm talking about?" Markus asked. The voices in the background made sense now. "The mayor is declaring that all androids be placed under a curfew, for their own safety apparently. Any android caught breaking it risks jail time or... worse."

Hank's body tensed as Markus's words sank in. "But Connor's out there somewhere! And I have a feeling that North is, too," he said. "We can't just leave them out there."

"This is why I was hoping that she was still there, or at least that you might know where she is," Markus said. "I worry that some of the more anti-android humans in the city might use this as an excuse to attack any androids that they can get their hands on."

His heart was thudding angrily in his chest. He'd just managed to find Connor after half a year of searching for him, and here he was, on one of the most dangerous nights of the year, out and missing along with another android.

"And I assume you've tried calling North?" Hank asked. 

"There's been no answer. Simon's trying to call Connor right now, but his processors were still a bit shaky when it comes to messages, so we can't tell if he's not answering or if it's just not getting through," he said. He sighed in frustration, and Hank could hear him slam something against what he assumed was a desk. 

"We can't leave them out there, Markus," Hank said, although he was aware that he was preaching to the choir. "We've gotta go out there and find them."

"You don't think that they went to see what was happening with the Ouroboros gang, do you?" Markus asked.

Hank considered this for a moment. "I know that Connor probably would, and that North would probably go with him to watch out for him, but how would he have known about it at all? Like I said, to my knowledge, he's been asleep almost all day. Plus, North woulda told you, right? She's like your second in command and all?" 

He wanted to believe that, both of them did. But clearly, the memory of her going off track when she and Simon went to speak to the members of the Ouroboros gang the first time was still fresh on their minds, as Hank couldn't help but question if she would have told him or not.

"I think that she would have if she thought whatever they had planned was dangerous. The problem lies inside the fact that both North and Connor seem to have the same skewed sense of danger," he said. "They're a lot alike in that aspect."

"But she let us know last time," Hank pointed out. "It was too late to change anything last time, but she still let us know."

Markus made a uncommitted sound in the back of his throat. "We're going to see if we can get through to the mayor's office over here on our end to see if we can get some androids out on the emergency response teams." Hank glanced at the TV, noting the way some officers were tossing androids to the ground, even those of them that had already surrendered. "Those that do get to get out on those teams can try and keep an eye out for North and Connor."

Hank nodded, grabbing his coat and his keys as he went about getting ready. "I'm gonna go down to the station, see who all is in charge of this shit. I'll see if I can have some of our... more understanding officers be on the lookout."

As Hank hung up the phone and headed to the car, he couldn't help but think back to the events that happened almost a year ago to the day. How much had truly changed in a year? Markus had lead a revolution for their equal rights, and today there was a literal gang of androids (numbers unknown) running around the city afraid for their lives. Without knowing who was a part of the gang and who wasn't, as well as the fact that many android models greatly resembled each other, the police were going to have a tough job on their hands.

And not everyone was willing to do that job right. Hank couldn't help but think back to how he used to view androids, as nothing more than machines, tools for people to use. They weren't living, thinking beings. 

And at the time he'd been assigned to the android deviancy cases.

What would have happened if someone who hadn't been willing to change had gotten stuck with that job? Someone who didn't look at Connor and slowly see him start to change, start to react like a normal, emotional being? If that person hadn't been willing to see deviants as living things, would Connor ever have been able to accept that he himself was alive?

He liked to think that he'd improved himself over time, mainly due to Connor's influence. Who knows what might have happened to him if the android hadn't ever come into his life?

He ignored the tiny part in his mind that told him he'd likely be dead if he hadn't. There was no need for those unhelpful thoughts.

Hopefully, there would be enough of the officers that Hank considered "android accepting" on the force tonight. If there weren't, he wasn't sure what he would do. They couldn't allow anti-android cops out on a night that would be specifically targeting androids (especially not if Connor and North were out there), but they were going to be hard pressed to find enough good cops in such a short amount of time.

Hank let his finger hover over a number in his phone. A few months ago, and this would've been the last number that Hank would have expected himself to be dialing, but he was desperate now and it seemed like he had changed, too.

"Hey Gavin? Where are you right now?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter would've had another scene added on to it, but that would've made it far too long, so this is it for now! I hope you guys enjoy it!


	31. Chapter 31

Someone was touching her. 

Someone that she didn't know. Someone that she didn't know was touching her, and she didn't even know where she was. It was exactly like something from her worst nightmare... Which had sadly been a reality at one point.

Acting on instinct, she swiped at them. Her fist connected, hitting something that was clearly made out of plastimetal and synthetic skin. Whoever it was recoiled, backing away with a loud yelp of pain as North sat up.

"Touch me again and I swear I'll chop your hands off," she said, her voice ice cold. Her fingers twitched, hoping to find her knife that she knew had been tossed away. No such luck.

"I'm sorry," Jesse said.

North scowled at her and then glanced around the room. They were alone, no sign of the other androids who had been in there before. No sign of Connor.

"What happened?" she asked, brushing the back of her hand across her forehead. Thirium stained her hand, the blue color of it catching her eyes even in the dim light. "Where's Connor?"

Jesse shifted her feet hesitantly. "They took him. After they knocked you out they grabbed him and carried him out." Her face was one of remorse, the guilt of what had happened clearly weighing very heavily on her.

North glared even harder at her. "And you just let them take him!?" she asked.

"What was a supposed to do? If I had fought back and lost, they would've taken me too! At least this way we can both go and get help," she said.

Slowly, North crawled to her feet, brushing off Jesse's hand when she offered it. "We're going to need more help," she said. She picked up her knife from the floor and twirled it around until the blade snapped closed. "I'm going to call Markus."

Jesse looked nervous, but didn't say anything. North was glad. There was no way she deserved to have any say in this, not after everything that had happened.

XXX

The new location they had picked out was worse than the hotel.

Connor wondered if they had inspected secondary locations or if it had been chosen randomly in a spur of the moment decision. If they had inspected them before hand, and this was the best they could have done, he would have hated to have seen the other options.

It seemed to be an old warehouse of some sort, and based off the of the smell, temperature, and sounds it must be close to the water. Hadn't Jericho been on a ship at some point? Had they chosen the same type of set up as the first android haven to make a point, or had it just been a coincidence? 

The closer that they got to the building the more Connor recognized. Hadn't they used this a drop for their drugs at one point? Maybe. It was hard to tell when it came to warehouses as they all looked the same after a while. Plus his vision was still sort of wonky, all out of sorts from getting kicked in the head.

The floor was gross and dingy, the dirt and whatever other debris easily catching on Connor's clothes. It was unlikely he'd ever be able to wear them again, which made him surprisingly sad.

Together, Jack and Ash hauled him up the stairs, his knees clanging against the metal in loud, painful ways. He tried to ignore the pain that radiated from them, knowing that showing any weakness now was likely to not end well for him.

"Travis?" Ash asked as they dragged him into a room. The room was rather large but empty aside from a few filing cabinets, a desk, and two chairs that all looked like they had been abandoned there by the previous owners.

The man in question was standing behind the desk, his back to the group. Immediately, he turned around, his eyes taking in Connor's form in a second. His face was truly unreadable, although Connor could sense that he was holding some negative feelings towards Connor, the top ones ranging from disappointment to potential hatred.

"Jesse got away," Jack said. "He was with that woman, North, from Jericho. The one that we contacted?" His voice lilted up, reminding him of who she was supposed to be. "Don't worry, we took care of her."

Travis didn't seem to be any happier than he had been a few moments ago. "Did you not try to find her? We need her," he said. He glanced at Connor out of the corner of his eyes, almost like he was trying to discretely evaluate him. "You wouldn't happen to know where she went, do you Cole?"

Connor glared at him, refusing to acknowledge him at all. He knew that that wasn't his name now, knew that he could never go by it again after remembering who he had taken the name from in the first place. It felt even worse to hear it come out of this man's mouth.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Travis asked. He waved his hand at the two androids holding Connor's arm, and they instantly dropped him. He barely managed to catch himself before his face smashed into the disgusting floor. Without waiting for any more instructions, they turned and left, the door clicking shut behind them.

"I would have figured you'd be super talkative, especially since you've talked so much to the police," he said, a slight smirk on his face.

"I didn't say anything to the police," Connor said, finally breaking. He instantly regretted it the second he did, but it was hard for him to stay silent. What made a man like him think that he could look down on anything that Connor had ever done?

"Of course you didn't," he said, his tone full of disbelief. "And why exactly should I believe you?"

"Because you guys are my friends!" Connor said. He glared at Travis, all of the anger he'd been trying told back coming back in an instant. "Or at least I thought you were. But now I know you were just using me! All you wanted me for was for my blood."

Travis shook his head. "You're either insane or stupid to think that that is all we wanted you for," he said. "You're a prototype, the most advanced android that remains after the revolution. You can do things that other androids can only dream of." He crossed his arms in front of his chest, evaluating Connor. "Given time, your skills would've been invaluable to us. Your blood was useful, and it made us a lot of money, but it wasn't the main reason why I needed you."

Connor narrowed his eyes, finally managing to crawl to his feet. Several warnings flashed before his eyes, warning him of the damage that would likely need to be done to repair his LED and processors, but he dismissed them before he could even read them. This was not the time to get distracted.

"You could have put us on the map! We could have saved so many androids if only you were willing to stay with us, to listen to us! But no, you had to go back to a group that disrespects you, that doesn't see your worth. Before you came to us you were working as a normal detective. Do you know what you could've been here? A goddamn leader!" he said.

"I don't want to be any of those things!" Connor shouted. "I liked my life before! I like living with Hank and doing the work that I do. It's good work! It _helps_ people! You're always going on and on about doing what helps the most amount of androids and that's what I was doing as a detective. But you took that from me. You took my _whole_ life away for half a _year_. And for what?" He spread his arms out, gesturing to the slum of a place they were currently standing in. "So we could live here and hide?"

"We're only living here because you told the cops about us!" Travis raged, his face turning a violent shade of red. "How many times do I have to remind you?"

"And how many times do I have to say that I didn't do it?" Connor yelled back. "I didn't tell them anything. And I'm almost certain that they don't trust me because of that."

Travis's chest rose and fell as he fought to regain some of his composure. Connor was certain that if he had to breathe he would be doing the same thing. Why couldn't he just understand that Connor was not a traitor? Connor might be uncertain about a lot of things since discovering his memory problems were a lie, but this was one thing he was sure of.

"If you didn't tell them, then who did?" Travis challenged.

"I don't know. But I want to find out, too," Connor said. He fought to control his voice, to maintain some sort of neutral tone to it despite the anger and confusion and pain that he was feeling. "Whoever told the police about the gang's location put the people that I care about in danger. I need you to believe me that I want to find that person as much as you do."

The tension in the air hung still as Travis seemed to think about Connor's words. "What're you gonna do about it?" he asked after a long moment of silence.

Connor couldn't help but be confused by his words. "What?"

"I asked what're you gonna do about it? What're you gonna do when you find the person who turned us in the the cops."

What was he going to do? There wasn't really a whole lot that Connor _could_ do about it, really. Especially since the gang really was hiding androids who could be considered criminals by the general population. Maybe the person who had turned them in had thought that they were doing the right thing.

But then again, they had endangered RA9 only knows how many androids by telling the cops about their hideout. It was a well-known fact that the police tended to not have the best responses to large groups of androids gathering together, even if they weren't considered criminals.

"I want to talk to them. I want to understand why they would do such a thing," he said.

Travis unfolded his arms, moving towards Connor. Now that Connor was looking at him, he could see his military influence. He'd always noticed his favored haircut and the way he held himself, but looking closer there seemed to just be an air about him that Connor was ashamed to admit he'd never registered before.

"Doesn't it make you angry? Those officers would've killed you, too, had you been there. They wouldn't have thought twice about shooting you down, just like they did Amber," he said.

Connor's head snapped up at the mention of the other android. "Amber? The android that was malfunctioning?"

Travis nodded his head. "Yeah, that Amber. The android that would've died if you hadn't helped her. They shot her as soon as the raid began. And all she did was stand there with her hands in the air."

_Pictures flashed before Connor's eyes, images that he was sure was part of his life from before all of this. Part of the revolution. Androids in a town square marching, side by side and getting shot. Thirium spilling down their bodies as they tried to keep going, to keep on living in spite of all the obstacles against them._

"You could help us," Travis said his voice that familiar sickly-sweet that always made everything sound too good to be true. "You could be a detective again and help us find the person that did this."

It was tempting. Travis knew how to tempt people with the things that they wanted most and make it seem like it was their idea all along. 

But Connor knew that it wasn't going to happen.

"I want to find them. But I can't help you. Not after all of the lies you've told me," he said.

Regret flashed over Travis's face. "I only ever did what I thought was right, Cole. I did what would help the most amount of androids possible." He walked away from Connor, striding towards the door.

"Stay here for a minute. Think about what I said. You'll see that I'm right."

XXX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is enjoying this story so far! Thank you to everyone who's commented on the story or contacted me over on my tumblr about it! It really means the world to me!
> 
> Also!!! For anyone who is interested there is now an Italian translation of Losing Your Memory Now being done by HiyokoVen! You can find it [ here! ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17539184/chapters/41327033)


	32. Chapter 32

The police station was a shit show. 

There were more people there than Hank had seen in years, and that included the reporters after Connor's return. It took him several circles around to find a place to actually part his car before he could even go inside. 

"Fowler!" Hank called out the second he reached the floor. He knew that his boss had to be here somewhere, there was no way that he would let chaos reign in his precinct without him having a say.

"Hank, what the hell are you doing here?" Fowler asked, marching right up to Hank. He gripped his arm, dragging the other man a few feet away into an area that was filled with less people. It was probably the max amount of privacy that they could really expect here.

"I heard that they found out where they hid Connor at and then raided it? Really?" Hank asked. "What happened?"

"Hank, go home," Fowler said. His voice was low and hurried as he tried to gesture towards the door. "Go and be with Connor, he needs you right now. I can't even believe that you're here right now."

Hank shrugged the other man's hands off. "Connor's gone. He left sometime during the day and hasn't been heard from since. Neither has North from Jericho, who was the last person to see him."

A string of curses that could make a sailor blush spilled from Fowler's lips as he swung his head from side to side for lack of anything better to do. "I let you take him home because I thought he'd be safe there!" Fowler said. "I thought you'd keep an eye on him."

"I tried to keep an eye on him!" Hank said. "It's not my fault that he's acting like a moody teenager and sneaking out!"

Fowler was quick to raise a finger to his lips and quiet Hank down. "Shh! Seriously, Hank." He glanced around at the other people in the room, each one of them attempting to look like they were busy doing something while the whole city seemed to be on the boarder line of chaos yet again. "I need you to think, where would Connor have gone?"

Hank shrugged. "If he had known about all of this I would have said that he might've went back to their hideout. But he went missing before this news was announced and since we think North is with him it really is a mystery."

Fowler shook his head again. "There's no where that you could think of, no place on Earth that you might think he would go to?"

"The kid barely has any memories, Jefferey, I don't know if he'd remember anywhere to go."

Another look was sent around the room. "You need to think harder, Hank. You've got to find him. Now."

Hank crossed his arms and inflated his chest a little bit. "And why's that, huh? He ain't done nothin' wrong."

Jeffery opened his mouth but was cut off by another voice. "Nothing wrong, huh? That's a funny story."

Hank whipped around, coming face to face with one of the people he hated most on this Earth. 

"What the fuck are you doing here, Perkins!?" Hank demanded. His fists clenched at his side, itching to get in another swing at the asshole.

"What Detroit PD should've already been doing. Why is it that I always seem to do your jobs better than you?" he asked, a slight sneer in his voice.

Hank turned back to Fowler. "Jeffery, come on, tell me this is a joke. This has got to be a sick ass joke."

"Oh, no jokes, _Lieutenant_ ," Perkins said, Hank's title like a disgusting four letter word in his mouth. "It seems that your previous partner has gotten himself tied up in something far beyond your capabilities."

"Shut up, I wasn't talking to you," Hank said. He turned back towards Fowler. "What the fuck is he doing here?"

"Apparently the FBI has been investigating a serious breach in military secrets from a group of androids and former human military member," Fowler said. "That, combined with the startling amount of drugs that were coming from the Ourobours Gang caught the attention of the FBI , DEA, and just about every other government organization out there."

"We're taking these android cases _very_ seriously," Perkins said, his sarcasm practically drooling from his mouth.

"Yeah, I fucking bet," Hank said. "Seriously, we couldn't have gotten any other G-man in the world to come here? It had to be you?" 

Perkins shrugged. "What can I say? I'm familiar with the people here. They thought it'd be best if they sent me."

"Well I think it'd be best if all of you just fucked off," Hank said through gritted teeth.

"Hank!" Fowler warned. "Knock it off."

"Come on, Jefferey, you know that this guy is only here because he's mad about how the android revolution turned out, and he's just hoping to score some brownie points with the bigwigs and the public now," Hank said. "He doesn't care about what happens to those androids or what they've done."

Perkins's face scrunched up in anger. "Of course I care about what they've done. That's the whole reason I'm here. Again. Because you guys can't seem to do your damn jobs right and realize what needs to be done."

"And what the fuck is that, huh?" Hank asked, crossing his arms in front of himself again.

"These androids need to be taught a lesson. They think that just because they won the revolution that they can do anything they want. They need to realize that their actions have consequences, and the first one that needs to learn that is DPD's very own pet android."

"What did you just say?" Hank asked, barely holding himself back.

"From what I understand it was Connor's blood that was used to make the new Red Ice on the streets. And it was Connor who broke into an android repair shop and nearly beat a man to death. Sounds to me like a rabid dog that needs to be put down, before he bites the hand that feeds. That would be your hand, wouldn't it, Anderson?"

Hank could feel his blood pumping through his veins, could feel each individual beat of his heart. There was no way that this man was talking about Connor, no way that he was comparing Connor to some dog. Sure, Hank had made the comparison before, _look he follows me around like a poodle, has big puppy dog eyes,_ but those were never meant to be bad things. He didn't compare him to Old-fucking-Yeller who needed to be shot in the head.

"I'm gonna do more than break your nose this time, asshole," Hank growled, stepping toward the FBI agent. Fowler, however, had clearly sensed that this was going to go very badly well before it had even begun and was quick to place himself in between the men, making sure to shove Perkins back before he held Hank in place.

"You're lucky you even got to keep your job last time," Perkins said. "Let's see what that gets you this time."

"I swear to fucking God, if you threaten Connor one more time I'm going to kill you."

"Captain Fowler, do you wanna add threatening an FBI agent to his list of charges? Because I would be glad to stick around for that," Perkins said.

"Hank! Let's go!" Fowler said, ignoring the agent. He shoved back against Hank, putting as much of his strength into it as he could. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Gavin.

"Gavin! Get Hank out of here. I don't want to see either one of you back in here before I call you," Fowler snapped.

Gavin quickly grabbed a hold of Hank's coat and worked on getting the man free from the crowded room. It wasn't easy, but before long they were both standing out on the sidewalk of the precinct, each taking deep breaths. 

"What the hell was going on in there?" Gavin asked, glancing back of the station. "Was that that FBI agent?"

Hank screamed in rage, kicking a nearby trash can out into the street. A car blared its horn as it passed by.

"Jesus, man, what the fuck?" Gavin asked.

"That asshole in there is going to blame all of this shit on Connor," Hank said. "He's going to blame it all on him so that when he finds him he can kill him."

Gavin's face flashed through several emotions. "I'm not saying you're wrong," he said, then slightly lower added, "mainly because I don't want to end up like that trash can." He shot a look towards the can rolling in the street. "But what makes you think that?"

"He all but said it! He kept talking about how the drugs were made with his blood and comparing him to a rabid dog that needed to be put down. Doesn't take a fucking genius to figure it out, Reed."

"Okay, okay, sheesh," Gavin said. "Just thought I'd fucking ask." He watched as Hank paced back and forth for a few moments, watching him work out some of that energy. "So what are we going to do?" he asked.

"What?" 

"Well, you called me so that I could help, right? What're we going to do?" 

It was true. Hank had called Gavin and asked him to meet him here at the station. But that was back before Hank knew the FBI were involved, before he knew that this was going to go far beyond a simple game of hide and seek with Connor and North in the city.

"Gavin," Hank said and paused. Gavin has been an asshole the whole time Hank had known him, and the last few months hadn't changed that fact at all, but he did seem to at least be acknowledging people other than himself now as things that mattered, so Hank couldn't ask him to help. It would be too selfish. "Go home. Don't get involved in this."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Gavin asked, his voice far louder than Hank had expect it to be. "I drove all the way here, I'm not just gonna go back home!"

"Gavin!" Hank barked. "This isn't a game! This is serious! We're talking about going up against the FBI for fuck's sake!"

"I know that!" he yelled back. "Hank, I'm not an idiot, I know what we're talking about. And I know that jackass in there is a total psychopath who would probably kill us if he could. But I worked my ass off to find your idiot android, and I'll be damned if I let just any asshole come in and threaten him."

Hank stared at Gavin in disbelief, a smile slowly growing on his face. "He's growin' on ya, aint' he?" he asked, thinking back to how Gavin had been behaving towards Connor lately. It still wasn't the best way a coworker could act towards a fellow coworker, but it was infinitely better than how Gavin used to treat androids. At least he wasn't pulling a gun on him anymore. Maybe there was hope for him after all.

Gavin snorted and rolled his eyes, clearly offended by the suggestion. "No," he said defensively. "I just don't want to give Perkins the satisfaction of breaking him first. If anyone gets to murder him it's going to be me."

Hank smirked. "Whatever you say, Gav," he said.

Gavin spluttered, clearly trying to argue with Hank, but he was interrupted when Hank's phone began to vibrate. 

"North?" Hank asked, his heart leaping into his throat. "Where are you? Is Connor with you?" 

Gavin closed the short distance between them so quickly it was practically a jump. Hank waved tried to wave him off, shoving his head away from the phone.

"Hank, I'm sorry," she said. Her voice was pained and angry with a mixture of regret in there. "I'm so sorry."

"North, it's okay," he said. He shoved Gavin away again. "Just tell me what happened."

"They took Connor," she said. "But I found the android he was looking for."

XXX

North sat down heavily on the edge of the curb as she waited for Hank and Markus to arrive. Apparently, there was supposed to be some sort of android curfew taking place, but she wasn't worried. Most people in this part of town were breaking the law anyways, what did they care if an android was, too?

Slowly and almost completely silently, Jesse stepped up beside her. She made sure to stay a few feet away, easily keeping out of reach from North, but close enough that North could tell she was preparing to say something. "What ever you want to say, just say it. I can't stand when people beat around the bush."

"I'm sorry you got hurt," Jesse said. "And I'm sorry they took Connor."

"You said that already," North said. She kept her eyes straight ahead, almost as though if she avoided looking at her she might avoid this entire conversation.

"Well I'm saying it again since you didn't seem to care that I said it the first time," she said.

North whipped her head around, quickly hopping up from the curb. "Are you actually trying to guilt trip me into accepting your apology? Because I can fucking promise that won't happen."

Jesse, not one to back down either, shook her head. "That's not why I'm saying it. I'm saying it because it's the truth. You have to believe me, if I had known that they had found me, I never would've waited here. I never would've let anything happen to Col- to Connor," she paused, as if to gather her thoughts. "Through these past few months Connor had become my friend. I know he might not have been the same Connor you knew, but the Connor I knew was real, too, and he was my friend."

North grit her teeth together. "He was _not_ real. You hid his memories from him, memories that helped to shape who he was. I don't know who you knew, but it wasn't Connor, and you can't have him back." Her fists clenched at her side, the urge to shake, scream, and punch rolling through her. "You can't take someones life away for half a year and make everything better with an apology."

Jesse stared at the ground, silent. But North wasn't done yet. "You keep apologizing for the fact that _they_ found him, but what about the fact that you took him? You don't seem too sorry about the fact that you kidnapped another android and took his memories from him. Did you even care who he was before? Did you even _know_ who he was?"

"I thought that we would be helping him," she said. "Of course I knew who Connor was. Connor and Markus's faces were spread around everywhere after the revolution, and he's the only RK800 model I've ever seen. But he was working for the government, he was working with you guys. Jericho wasn't doing enough to help us, those of us who had gotten in trouble with the law when we deviated, and I just thought that if we had him that we could do more than you. It's not like we specifically targeted him, but after we had him it seemed stupid to let him go."

North stared at her, evaluating her. "And what do you think now?"

"What?" she asked.

"What do you think now?"

Jesse kicked the curb, chewing on her bottom lip. "Now I think that I might've been wrong. And that while you guys might not be doing things the way we would've done them, you seem to be doing _something_. At least, that seems true based on everything you've done to find Connor so far." She looked up, meeting North's eyes. "And I'm sorry we took him. I realize now how important he was to everyone," she said, her voice quiet.

North inspected her face, looking for any sign that she might be lying or not be sincere in her apology. But she didn't see that. All she could see was another android who was trying to do her best and protect the people that she had cared about. She might not have done it in the right way, but neither had North in the beginning. Without having other influences, good influences, in your life it was easy to become something you could easily despise.

"Good," North said. "Because if anything has happened to him because of you, I'll personally feed you to a wood chipper."

Jesse opened her mouth, no doubt to try and argue with her threat, but a car pulled up next to them. It was easily recognizable, the old, manuel car that Hank drove giving them away.

In less than a second after the car had stopped, Markus had jumped out and ran towards North. He threw his arms around her neck, burying his face in her hair. His hug was tight, making sure that she was actually okay.

"What happened?" he asked, stepping back to get a better look at her. "Are you hurt?" His fingers ran over the wound on her forehead, dried and flaky thirium that hadn't evaporated yet coming away with his fingers. The concern from him was almost a physical presence standing between them, filling her with warmth and safety even as they stood on the cold, dangerous streets in a bad part of Detroit.

"I'm fine," North said, gently brushing his hand away. There were other things that they had to worry about for now, she could be looked at later. "But those assholes took Connor."

By now, Hank and Gavin had managed to make their way out of the car and over to the androids standing on the sidewalk. Hank practically marched over to North, coming up behind Markus in a few easy steps.

"Hank," she said, stepping away from Markus. Her thirium pump worked harder in her chest, her thoughts going back to how things were before, well before she found Jericho or escaped the Eden Club. _The angry men who had no problem beating up androids (or doing worse things) for pleasure. The men that would have gladly murdered her if she hadn't gotten away if-_

His arms came up quickly to wrap her in a hug, almost in the same way that Markus had, but this one was different. She'd seen Hank hug Connor before, and seen Carl and Markus hug before. It was a parent comforting their child, who was clearly upset about something.

Still, she froze, uncertain as to how she should react. Did she hug him back? How long did hugs like these usually last? Was there something that she was missing to this?

Hank, who must have sensed her feelings on the matter, quickly stepped back, his hands hovering in the air over her. His eyes were roaming all over her, clearly putting his police work to good use. 

"Hank, I'm sorry," North said, trying to make him believe her. "I never would've agreed to come here if I'd known what was going to happen, and now Connor's missing and-"

He held up a hand in front of her, cutting her off. "Stop," he said. "This ain't your fault. I know that." He took a deep breath, likely trying his best to calm down. "Connor can be persuasive when he wants to be, and he's fucking stubborn as hell. He woulda came here with or without ya." He gave her a tight smile. "I'm just glad he finally learned to bring someone with him."

North could feel her guilt weighing on her like a ton of bricks, although it did slightly lighten up at Hank's words. It meant the world to her that Hank didn't blame her, that he didn't see her as the reason that all of this had happened.

"If I had known that they were following us to her," North said, gesturing to Jesse. "I never would've let him come here. I would've stopped him, I would've told you." She felt her thirium pump lurch with emotion. "I would've done things differently."

Hank nodded his head at her words, acknowledging them but not really interacting with them. Instead, he was staring at Jesse, the android who was responsible for taking away Connor's memories. The one that had convinced the rest of the group to take him back with them.

She stepped back, seeming to understand who Hank was without needing to be told. For a moment, North was sure that she was going to run and that North was going to have to chase her down.

"So you're the one that blocked his memories?" Hank asked, side eyeing her. 

Jesse gave a weak nod of her head, one of her feet braced behind her as if she might turn around and sprint away or use that brace to shove against Hank.

"And you can fix it? Give him back his memories?" he asked. "Just as easy as you took them away?"

Jesse nodded. "His memories are behind a block that we used in the military when androids were on a 'need to know basis'. If I had deleted them or wiped his processors completely, he wouldn't have been able to do what we had needed him to do," she said, as if it were all a matter of fact. There was no use in apologizing to Hank. There'd never be a way to fix the damage that the gang had done to his family, but returning Connor's memories would at least be a start. 

He gave her a nod of his own. "We'll talk about what to do with you later then," he said. "After we get Connor back."

Slowly, she allowed the tension from her body to release. Even North was surprised at how well Hank had managed to contain his anger.

"Do we know where they've taken him?" Markus asked. "The city's already on lock down for androids, it's not like they could have taken him very far."

"This area is a shit part of town," Gavin said, glancing around. "I don't know if it's a good idea to start looking around here, especially on a night like tonight."

North turned to Jesse. "Do you have any idea where they might've taken him? Did you guys have any other locations other than the one that was raided?"

Jesse furrowed her brows in concentration. "We didn't have a lot of extra locations, yet. Most of them were going to be bought with the money that Travis was gaining from the Red Ice." She chewed on her lip. "But there was only one other location I can think of that would be big enough to hold all the androids that escaped. It's a warehouse that's not too far from here."

Hank crossed his arms and nodded his head towards his car. "Well then, I guess we know where we're goin'."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. So long between updates. I've got no excuse other than the usual with work and life but hopefully this update will make up for it!


	33. Chapter 33

"We need to split up," Hank said as they approached the warehouse. "Markus, you come with me. North, Jesse, go with Gavin and try to convince everyone to leave."

North side-eyed Gavin. "Why do I have to go with him?" she asked, her nose turned up like Gavin had a particularly bad smell. 

Gavin gave her an equally dirty look. "Yeah, cause I'm thrilled to have _you_ as part of my team, too."

Hank rolled his eyes. "Would you two stop bitchin' like children for five minutes? It's gonna take two separate groups to do this, and Jesse is gonna need help. North, you can act as a voice for Jericho, convince them that they can go there. Gavin, you can act as part of the DPD, let them know that this is something that's very real and that they've gotta get the hell outta here." He turned to look at Markus. "And Markus is going with me so we can speak directly to this Travis guy and figure out where Connor is."

Gavin crossed his arms. "What makes you so sure that they'll take you straight to him?" he asked. "How do you know that they won't just kill you?"

Jesse scoffed. "We don't just kill every human that looks at us, you know." She rolled her eyes. "Ash and Jack are going to be the ones most likely to take you to Travis. They're the ones, along with Connor and I, who had the most direct contact with him. As far as everyone else goes, I think North and I should be able to convince them to run. Most of them are going to be so scared that they'll likely bolt at even the mention of the authorities."

Hank nodded, clearly satisfied with her answer. "Any other questions?" Both North and Gavin shook their heads, although neither one of them seemed to be too pleased with the plan still. 

North stepped closer to Markus, her voice low. She didn't speak to him through their cybernetic connection, but she did lower her voice so Hank was pretty sure that she wasn't intending for her comment to be overheard. "I just worry about you going in there without me. We're a team, remember?"

He smiled and kissed her. "Of course I remember. And we're still a team. We just have different jobs for this mission." He kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, I'll be careful."

She nodded before walking over to Jesse and Gavin, who were heading towards one of the side doors to sneak in. 

"You ready for this?" Hank asked, looking at the front door of the warehouse. There were clearly two androids standing guard at the entrance, although if Hank hadn't been a trained member of the police force he might not haven noticed them hidden in the shadows.

"As ready as I'll ever be I suppose," Markus said. Together they walked towards the front door, hoping that their plan would actually work.

XXX

It was impossible to tell how much time had passed since Travis had left, but Connor felt like he was going to lose his mind either way. So far no one else had been in to visit him, leaving him to his own devices.

After it became obvious that Travis wasn't coming back, or at least not in the immediate future, he set about trying to get out of the room. The door was an old manually locked one, with no sign of any computer to interface with. It made sense for this type of old location, but it did little to help him.

After giving up on the door for now, he decided to go through the desk and the filing cabinets that were in the room. He'd had very little choice to do much else, as there wasn't exactly much else in the room with him.

He pulled open a few drawers in the desk. All of them were empty.

Connor muttered under his breath, a curse that would've either made Hank proud or upset that he said it. 

There was a dingy, grim covered skylight above his head, although he was too short to reach it, even after climbing on top of the desk. It also seemed like the window was rusted in place and unlikely to open even if he could reach it.

Sighing, he hopped back down to the floor. There really wasn't a way out, aside from the door that was going to stay closed until Travis came back. He sank down into the chair, annoyance and frustration building up inside of him.

Why was everything so complicated? Why couldn't anything work out like it was supposed to? All he had planned on doing was meeting up with Jesse. If he had known that any of this would've happened, he never would've left Hank's house in the first place.

He thought back to North, lying on the dirty floor. Surely she was okay. She was tough, there wasn't anything that could stop her. She'd survived the revolution after all, there was no way that she'd be taken down by a couple of hits.

He could only hope that Markus would forgive him. And Hank. And North. Why did it seem like he was constantly disappointing the people he cared about? Was that something he had struggled with before he'd gone missing or was that a new development since he had come back? He wished that he had all of his memories so he could be sure, but that was an issue that was going to have to wait.

Suddenly, the door sprang open. Travis stood in the door way, his larger frame taking up most of the space. Connor immediately jumped up from his chair, his hands raised in front of him in a sort of defensive stance. If it was going to come to a fight, he was going to make sure he at least won this time.

"Just wondering if you've given any thought about what I said earlier," he said. "You could join us again. Help us. You'd be one of us. Completely this time."

Connor stared at him, his eyes hard. "I can't do that. You know I can't."

Travis nodded his head continuously as he took a step backwards. "Yeah, yeah. I thought you might say that. That's why I thought I'd show you something that might change your mind."

He stepped fully out of the door way and waved an arm to whoever was standing next to him. There was a shuffling sound followed by some curses before Hank and Markus appeared in front of him, shoved forward by Ash and Jack.

This thirium froze inside his veins. If he didn't know any better he would've said that he'd fried his processors, clearly burning his brain out. There was no way that Markus or Hank were actually standing in front of him, there just couldn't be. They were at home. They were safe.

They had to be.

But here they were, standing right in front of him. Both of them had their hands raised above their heads, although Hank looked like he would much rather have his hands wrapped around Travis's throat at that moment. His eyes were icy as they glared at Travis, only softening when they glanced towards Connor to make sure he was alright.

"Hank? Markus?" Connor asked, his voice almost cracking on their names. 

Markus gave a sad smile while Hank gave a sarcastic hand wave.

"What're they doing here?" Connor asked, looking at Travis. He turned back to his friends, his family. "Why're you here?!"

Neither one of them said anything. Hank glared at Travis. "Are we allowed to speak or are ya gonna threaten to shoot me again?"

Travis smirked. "Go ahead." He waved his hand in front of him like he were offering a lady first in line privileges.

"We came to find you," Markus said.

"So I can beat your dumbass for even thinkin' about runnin' away again," Hank interrupted. Markus shot him a look that clearly said this was not the time for that but didn't say anything.

"Is North okay?" Connor asked, the heavy weight of guilt almost a physical thing on his chest. 

"She's fine," Markus said shortly.

"Are you okay?" Hank asked. His eyes continuously moved over Connor, checking every thing he possibly could to make sure his surrogate son was alright. Connor hoped that whatever he was seeing was enough to let him know that he was fine, but he doubted that Hank would leave it at that, anyways.

"I'm fine," Connor said. Before he could say anything else, however, Travis cut him off.

"Touching," he said. "But I think we need to focus on what really matters right now." He pointed to Connor. "You're going to stay with us or your friends here might have a little _accident_."

Something sharp twisted inside Connor. He couldn't argue with him, or he'd be putting Markus and Hank at risk. But he couldn't stay there either. Who knows what Travis might ask him to do next.

"Listen, I'm telling ya, you guys have got more important things to worry about!" Hank said, plowing right through any answer Connor might've given. "The FBI are on their way to raid this place right now. Anyone left in here is gonna get mowed down by them, just like your last location."

Travis narrowed his eyes at Hank. "You're lying."

"Why would I lie about something like that?" Hank challenged. "I literally have nothin' to gain by telling you any of this aside from makin' sure Connor gets out safely." He made eye contact with Connor, a look that told Connor he would do anything to make sure that the android got out of there in one piece.

Travis continued to look at him through narrowed eyes. "And what about you, Markus? What's the big android leader doing slumming it with the rest of us?"

"Connor is my friend," Markus said. "And I don't want anything to happen to the androids gathered here. We might have different political beliefs, but it's my responsibility to make sure you guys get to safety." He stood up just a bit straighter, the persona of the revolutionary leader shining in full force. "That's why I'm here to offer you guys a safe place. Come to New Jericho."

Ash snorted behind them. "Jericho? Yeah right, you guys must really think we're stupid."

Markus wasn't deterred in the slightest. "Jericho is a safe place for all androids. There's no way we would allow the FBI to harm anyone on our property. We've got the resources to hide you, to hire lawyers, or get you out of the country if that's what you want. But we can't do any of that, if you guys don't listen to us now."

"What exactly makes you think that the FBI is coming here?" Travis asked. He glared over at Connor. "Did you tell them? Or maybe it was one of you two?" he asked, stepping closer to Hank and Markus.

"The FBI have been on to you guys for months. Even before you took Connor, apparently," Hank said. "It was only a matter of time before they flagged your drop locations. Jesse said that you guys used this one frequently enough so they must have figured it out."

" _Jesse_ ," Travis snarled. "So I guess that means she's on your side now?"

"Forget about the sides!" Connor said, quickly stepping in between Travis and his friends. "The FBI are about to be at your front door. We need to get everyone out of here."

For a moment Connor was sure Travis was going to hit him. There was that hard look in his eyes, the same look that he would sometimes catch glimpses of when he was drawing thirium from him, but it was gone in a second. If Connor didn't know better, he might've thought he'd imagined it.

"Listen, Cole," Travis said. He straightened his back so he was standing at his full height, his chest slightly inflated to be even larger than he was. "I-"

"Fuck off!" Hank said, his fist flying over Connor's shoulder to slam into Travis's nose. Blood immediately squirted from his nose, splattering onto Connor's dirty hoodie and dripping to the floor.

Travis staggered back a few steps, a look of surprise on his face. There was a sound from behind them, likely the surprised sound of Ash and Jack, but it was drowned out by Hank's yelling.

"Don't you ever fucking call him that again," Hank growled. "I swear to God I will absolutely put you in the fuckin' ground."

Connor turned around, taking in Hank's face. "Hank," he said, but he wasn't really sure what else to say. What exactly should be said in this situation?

"His name is Connor, and if you even look at him in the wrong way I will fuckin-"

The sound of shattering glass filled the air. Less than a second later the skylight began to fall in, shards falling over Connor and Travis. There was another sound mixed in there, the sound of...

"Get down!" Connor yelled, reaching blindly for Hank and Markus. He forced them to the ground, doing his best to cover their bodies with his.

There was a pause, a moment where there was nothing. The next was chaos, nothing but more glass and the ringing sound of bullets hitting the floor. He could hear Hank yelling something, but he couldn't quite make it out over the chaos that was happening around them.

Hands grasped his arms, pulling him up and away from Hank and Markus. He kicked out, fighting to try and stay over them, to protect them, but they yanked him up and away. When he opened his eyes again Hank and Markus were also getting to their feet outside of the room and away from the skylight. 

He ripped his arm out of Ash's grip, the look of confusion clear on his face. Jack had one of Hank and Markus's arms in his grip as well, having obviously pulled them from the room.

"What's going?!" Ash said, his voice loud in the quite that now surrounded them.

"Looks like the FBI is here," Markus said.

"Hank!" Connor said, reaching his hands out. "Are you okay?"

Hank was staring at him, his eyes wide. Connor could feel his thirium pump beat faster at the look on his face, the fear that something might have happened to him almost overwhelming everything.

He stepped forward, his hands reaching out for Connor. They landed on his chest, pulling the hoodie out and away from him, bringing the thirium stains and new holes to Connor's attention.

"Oh," Connor said, looking down.

There were three new bullet holes in him. One of them was in his shoulder, almost the same place he'd been shot by Daniel during the Emma Philips case. Another one was further down his arm, near his elbow. But it was the third one that would probably cause the most problems later on. A bullet had managed to hit him in the stomach, thirium leaking out at an alarming rate.

"Oh?!" Hank said, his voice teetering on the edge of panic. "Is that all you've got to fucking say?"

Connor looked at his hands, noting the splatters of thirium on them. "I can't even feel it," he said. He tried to run a diagnostic on himself, but nothing would go through. He clenched his hands. "I can't really feel anything."

"Shock," Ash said, looking at him with a surprising amount of concern. "You're systems are probably in shock. That, or you might have damage to your processors."

"Let's get out of here," Markus said. "We'll get you to Simon. He'll take care of you."

Connor turned to look back into the room. Travis was laying there, blood pooling out around him. He knew, even without scanning him, that the man was dead, or at least would be very soon. There was no way that a human could lose so much blood and not be.

"We're just going to leave him here?" Connor asked. He didn't dare walk back in the room, far too afraid of the skylight sniper to risk it. But still, it felt wrong to leave his body lying there like it was trash. 

There was a look on Hank's face, something that was hard for Connor to place. The anger and pain were obvious emotions, so obvious that they were almost physical beings in the room with them, but there was something else there. Something that Connor wasn't familiar with yet.

"We can't carry him with us, Con," he said stepping forward. "We've gotta focus on getting you out of here first." He pulled Connor's arm over his shoulder, despite the fact that Connor didn't even require it yet. It was almost like Hank was looking for any excuse to keep him close, and Connor wasn't going to fight him on it.

"What about all the other androids?" Ash butted in. "We can't just let everyone else die."

"Don't worry about them," Markus said, heading towards the stairs. "We had North and Jesse working on getting everyone else out while you led us to Travis and Connor."

Ash gave him a small smirk. "You sneaky son of a bitch."

Markus gave an amused sort of smile that was quickly wiped away a moment later. "North says that they've surrounded all of the doors. They're not wanting to risk what happened at the hotel happening again."

Connor turned to look to the two other androids. "I'm guessing that you guys know a way out though," he said. Despite all of his memory problems, he could clearly remember all of the creative ways that they would leave the hotel, such as the old tunnels underneath.

"Yeah, we've got a way," Jack said. They hustled down the stairs as a group, all headed towards a darker section of the warehouse. Ash was the one to reach the section first. He shoved several boxes out of the way and grabbed onto a handle in the floor.

"A fucking speakeasy," Hank muttered under his breath. "That's what this warehouse was used for back in the day, storing everyone's booze and shit. And that's how you guys were getting in and out of that hotel without anyone seeing you."

Ash shrugged. "Pretty clever, huh?"

Hank muttered a few choice curse words under his breath as he moved past him. "We can talk about how clever it is _after_ we get out of here."

It didn't take long for everyone to get down into the tunnel and start moving towards the exit. Markus sent a message to North, telling her where to meet them on the other end. 

"I'm sorry," Connor muttered under his breath. His voice was low, so low he knew it was likely only Hank had heard him. "I'm sorry for... for a lot of things I've done and haven't done." He stared at the ground as they shuffled through the tunnel, his fist tightening over Hank's shoulder. "I don't know what I'm going to do, but I know I'm going to make up for it."

Hank was silent for so long Connor thought he was going to ignore him. Then, he sighed, his chest and shoulders expanding and shifting enough to move Connor. "You have nothing to apologize for, son," he said. "I don't know how many times I have to say it, but I'll say it again and again if that's what you need to hear." His grip on Connor's arm tightened, an emotional response to Connor's words that he couldn't control.

"I just-" Connor stopped. "I just wanted you to know that I was sorry."

There was nothing else that Hank could say to convince him that he wasn't to blame, so he wasn't going to bother right now. There'd be plenty of time to do that once they got him some help and the hell away from there.

Connor lifted his head and looked towards Ash and Jack. They were walking close together, a few paces away from the rest of the group, their arms nearly bumping into each other as they mumbled to each other.

"I'm sorry for what happened to Travis," Connor said. "He might not have been a good guy all the time, but I know he was important to you guys."

Jack tried to glare at Connor but it didn't last very long. It quickly fell into a look of sorrow and sadness that Connor hoped to never have to experience. "He saved us. The military would've killed us and Jesse if he hadn't helped us escape during the revolution."

Ash nodded. "He was a criminal, but so are we," he said. His look was a twin set to Jack's. "He didn't deserve to die like that. He didn't deserve to be gunned down in a shitty warehouse."

Connor could debate all night long about what people deserved and didn't deserve, but he knew that it didn't matter. They were dealing with a loss of a father figure, a leader. Travis could have murdered a million people and they still would have thought he deserved better.

And if Connor was completely honest with himself, so did he. Travis was an asshole and a criminal, this was true, but he should have gone to jail for his crimes. He should have at least had his day in court. It seemed unfair for him to get sniped down without any of that happening.

"People rarely get the deaths they deserve," Hank said, surprising everyone. 

Connor tried to catch Hank's eye, but he kept his eyes forward, set on the path in front of them. 

A few moments passed before Markus spoke. "There's a ladder here. Is this the right one?"

Ash nodded, quickly climbing up the ladder. Jack followed after, barely glancing at the three remaining.

Markus's eyes scanned over Connor, likely taking in the damage he'd sustained. There was still the suspicious absence of pain in his body, but he could feel the thirium still bleeding out and running down his clothes. Hank's clothes were likely covered in the liquid as well, but he couldn't really see them to confirm that.

"Are you going to be able to climb up?" he asked. He glanced up the ladder towards where Ash was currently lifting the manhole cover and climbing topside. 

Connor withdrew his arm from Hank's shoulders and stepped away. He seemed stable enough, but there was really no way to tell without actually starting to climb up. "I should be fine," he said in a voice that was far more confident than he felt.

It did nothing to change the look on Hank's face, however. The man's hands were hovering nearby, always ready to reach out and catch Connor if he fell. "You go up first," Hank said to Markus. "Then you, Connor. I'll be right behind you in case you fall."

Both Connor and Markus nodded. There was no arguing with Hank when he used his Lieutenant voice.

The ascent was surprisingly short and easier than he had expected. His thirium levels were getting low, he could tell by the way everything seemed to be glitching in and out every once in a while, but his movements didn't seem to be affected yet. He lifted his hand to his LED, allowing himself to feel the circle at his temple. How badly were his processors broken if he still couldn't feel any pain yet? Was it truly just shock like Ash had suggested?

Markus reached back into the hole to offer his hand to him. He took it, allowing himself to be pulled up from the hole. Snow was falling from the sky, fat flakes already beginning to collect in his hair.

There was a vague memory, something that he'd probably been forced to forget, of a garden filled with dead roses and snow. It was cold there too, with huge snow banks and even more falling from the sky. He forced the memory away, filled with the dread that even if he'd had all of his memories he would've preferred to have forgotten that one.

As Hank climbed out of the hole, light suddenly filled the alley way. There was a car at one end of the alley, it's head lights staring straight at them. The driver's side door swung open to reveal the very person they'd been hoping to avoid this whole time.

"Fuck," Hank said, staring straight at Perkins.

"Well done, Anderson," Perkins said, giving a sarcastic clap. "It's good to see you can sniff out more than just a bottle of booze." 

From the corner of his eyes, Connor could see Hank's fists ball up, although the man made no other movement. It was likely taking all he had in him to not bust the man's face. Again.

There were vague memories of Perkins. Connor knew that he'd had something to do with the revolution, and that he'd been the one to try to make negotiations with Markus before the revolution ended, but he couldn't remember how any of those things had turned out. What he did know was that the man standing in front of him was responsible for who knew how many androids' deaths due to his raid. And that was enough for him to hate the man on sight.

"Good evening, Agent Perkins," Markus said, ever the diplomat. His voice was even, his tone purposefully neutral in every way possible. "What can we do for you?"

Perkins glared at Markus, absolute hate and disgust coexisting in his look. "Yeah. You can put your hands on your head because all of you are under arrest." His hand rested near his hip, clearly resting on his gun.

"What the fuck for?" Hank demanded, stepping in front of Markus and Connor. Jack and Ash had stepped back a few feet, as if they might be able to blend into the remaining darkness in the alley. "What the fuck could you possibly arrest us for?"

"There's a curfew in effect for all androids," Perkins said. He nodded his head to the four androids standing in front of him. "And these four are breaking it. That alone is enough to take them in, plus the suspicions of them being connected to the Ourobors gang."

"Fine," Hank said, crossing his arms. "I'll take them in." 

Perkins shook his head. "Oh, no, Anderson. I wouldn't want to cut into your valuable drinking time. I'll be taking them in." 

There was something in his eyes, something that Connor couldn't put into words, but he knew that if Perkins took them in, none of them would ever come back. That if they were to be "arrested," they might not even make it back to the station.

"Now, wait a minute," Hank said, stepping forward. Perkins immediately pulled his gun, pointing it towards Hank. Every instinct inside of Connor was screaming at him to do something, to step in front of Hank, but he held his ground, knowing that any movement from him was likely to cause Perkins to shoot, and who knew where he would be aiming when he did.

"No. These assholes are going to come with me, and then I'm going to have a talk with Fowler about your inability to step aside and let the FBI do their job!" Perkins said.

Connor and Markus raised their arms up to rest on their head, not having many other options. They'd never make it if they tried to run, plus if they did then they really would be resisting arrest and that _would_ be likely to cause them trouble. Not to mention, there was no way Connor was going to leave Hank with a man like Perkins. Not without being sure that nothing would happen to him.

Ash, however, seemed to have other ideas.

There was the sound of feet pounding on asphalt for a few second, no more than a distance of a few feet, before the bullets rang out. By the time Connor turned his head, both Ash and Jack were laying on the ground, thirium pooling under them. There were holes in their chests, right where their thirium pumps should be.

It seemed like Perkins had practiced that shot before.

"No!" Connor said, stepping towards them. They couldn't be dead.

"Connor!" Markus said, reaching towards the other android, preventing him from going any further.

Another shot rang out, although this one had a different target. Markus grunted as the bullet implanted itself into his shoulder, missing it's intended target, which had clearly been Connor. Both of the androids fell to the ground, Markus landing on top of Connor and covering him just to be sure.

"What the fuck are you doin'!?" Hank shouted, moving towards Perkins regardless of his gun. Connor wanted to stop him, to tell him to stay away from Perkins, but he couldn't get up from underneath Markus. "Why the hell did you shoot them?!"

Perkins gave a nonchalant shrug. "They were attempting to get away."

"And Connor and Makrus?!" Hank's face was as red as blood as the screamed. "They weren't going to run! There was no need to aim for them!"

"I had to be sure," Perkins said, although he didn't sound like he cared either way. 

"We've got to get you to a technician," Connor said, looking at Markus's shoulder. The thirium was steadily leaking from the hole in his shoulder, although it didn't look like it was life threatening.

Markus's eyes were scrunched, clearly feeling the pain of the hole on his shoulder. "Connor, you've got multiple holes in you right now, I think I'll be okay," he said. His eyes moved over Connor's form quickly, obviously doing a scan and taking note of any changes to his systems in the last little bit. His face darkened, whatever it was he was seeing must not have been good. "I've already contacted Simon, and he should be on his way and ready for us."

Connor nodded, not wanting to ask what the problem was. His inability to run a scan on himself or feel pain was clearly a blessing right now. He cast a sad look over to Ash and Jack, silently asking Markus with his eyes to tell him if they were okay.

Markus, noticing where Connor was looking, shook his head. "Don't look."

Before Connor could say anything, lights suddenly appeared at the other end of the alley. The outline of Hank's older car made it obvious who it was, although Connor knew the last thing this situation needed was more people, much less more androids.

"What the fuck!?" Gavin's voice called out, stepping out from the driver's seat. His eyes were taking in everyone standing there, halting when they landed on Perkins with his gun out and the dead androids in the alley. His arm shot out, holding back whoever was behind him.

"What the hell?" North asked, surprised by Gavin's arm. Her head appeared over his arm as she leaned around to take in the scene before them. Her eyes immediately landed on Markus and the thirium that was coming from him. Connor could see, even from where he was sitting that Gavin was having to hold his arm in place to keep her from running over to them.

"Hand over the androids, Detective Reed," Perkins said. "Or I'll place you under arrest as well."

"You're the one unders arrest!" Hank said. "You're under arrest for the death of those two androids, Agent Perkins. And if you don't put that damn gun down-"

Perkins moved his gun back towards Hank. "What? What will you do, huh?" He looked Hank over. "They're just androids, Anderson, they're not human."

Markus turned towards Perkins, making sure to stay on the ground in between the man and Connor. "We might not be human, but we are _alive_ , Agent Perkins. You can't just gun us down in an alley." He stared back at the man, zero fear in his eyes.

Connor thought back to the Markus that he'd "known" about while he was part of the gang. The Markus that didn't care for most androids, that only cared for the ones who agreed with him or were useful to him. That Markus didn't relate to this one at all, this one who was willing to speak out against the injustice of it all with a gun pointed on him. Just the same as he had during the revolution. Connor was sorry he didn't have more memories of this Markus.

Perkins aimed his gun at Markus, and this time Connor knew he wouldn't miss. It wouldn't be a shoulder shot that Markus could handle after a few simple repairs, nor would it be as simple as replacing a limb. This was going to be it for him.

Three things happened at once. Connor rolled on top of Markus him, hoping against all the odds that he might somehow be enough to get Markus away from the line of fire. If he could manage that, he'd be happy. Then, there was a scuffle in front of him, the sound of someone yelling and fighting. Behind him, there was someone running towards him, from the sound of it two pairs of footsteps.

When he opened his eyes he was on his back, his eyes staring straight up at the sky. The snow was still falling, the soft, icy substance collecting on his eyelashes. He blinked a few times, trying to blink away the snow and squint towards the sky. It was dark around the edges, like someone had places blinders on him or turned on a strange filter.

Markus's face appeared in front of him, his mouth moving as he spoke to him, although Connor couldn't hear him. He turned his head away, too tired to even try to understand anything that was being said to him. 

When he turned his head he saw Jesse fighting against Perkins for control of his gun. Hank had pulled his gun as well, although it was obvious that he didn't have a clear shot, or else Connor was sure Hank would've shot Perkins by now. Gavin was crouching next to him, his own gun out and also trained towards the fighting, although he was constantly looking back towards Markus and North, who were hovering over Connor.

His head was lifted, coming to rest in North's lap. Her face was mostly obscured by her hair, but Connor could see the thirium tears streaking their way down her face. When she caught him looking at her, she turned her face upwards, looking towards the snow filled sky.

 _"Connor?"_ Markus' voice came to him, his voice staticky and barely there. _"Can you hear me?_

Connor tried to respond, but thirium flowed from his mouth when he tried to answer. He knew that he should be concerned about that, should be scared, but he was so tired, and it felt so far away from him that it was hard to convince himself that he needed to be worried.

 _"We're going to get you help, okay?"_ Markus said. Connor could feel him tighten his grip on his hand, the first sensation he'd felt since being shot in the warehouse. _"I sent Simon our address the second I figured out where the tunnel would let us out at. He knows that you're hurt. He'll be here soon."_

Was he hurt? He didn't really feel hurt. He felt... cold. That's what he felt. He felt cold. Maybe it was the snow falling from the sky or maybe it was the memories of the snowy garden or maybe it was just from the lack of thirium, but he felt cold. Freezing. Like he would be shivering if he could.

 _"Cold,"_ Connor thought, hoping that the connection would be strong enough for Markus to understand. _"It's cold. I'm cold."_

His message must have gotten through, because Markus's eyes seemed to tear up even more than before. His thumb rubbed across the back of his hand, trying his best to comfort him. "I know," Markus said out loud. "You'll be warm soon."

Connor nodded and looked back towards everyone else. Jesse seemed to be winning the fight, although he couldn't help but wonder where she'd came from. Had she been in the car with Gavin and North? He hadn't seen her in there.

Watching her fight reminded him that she had been a military android before all of this. Sure, her model, the Chloes, had been intended to be used as secretaries, but she'd been given obvious improvements, her memory altering abilities notwithstanding. She was quicker, far quicker than Perkins despite his years of training as well, and she could clearly take a punch better than he could. 

The only thing he really had going for him was the fact that despite everything that had happened, she didn't want to kill him. Connor could tell, even from where he was laying, that she was pulling her punches, not fully unleashing everything that she was capable of.

Her hand wrapped around his gun, fighting to aim it towards the sky. If she could just discharge it enough times then it wouldn't even be a threat to them anymore, and she could clearly take him in hand to hand combat. He took advantage of her distraction with his gun by bringing his elbow down on her face, cracking against her nose.

It was enough for her to stagger back, thirium leaking from her nose. Her face was nothing but anger, her eyes darting over to the bodies over her best friends and where Connor laid. 

Connor could see it all happen before it even did. Maybe it was part of his "predictive" abilities, or maybe it was something else, but he could already see what Perkins was going to do.

He raised his gun and shot Jesse, his aim a little off center. It wasn't directly in her thirium pump, not the way Ash's and Jack's had been, thanks to her movements, but it was enough. She immediately staggered and fell to her knees, thirium already beginning to pour out of the hole in her chest.

Hank wasted no time in firing his own gun. 

His shot hit Perkins arm, a painful shot that caused the man to drop his gun and hit the ground. Gavin, who had his phone out, was screaming something, although Connor still couldn't hear what was being said. He could only assume that it was calling in back up.

Hank handcuffed Perkins, making sure pick up his gun and keep it as far away from him as possible. There was no way that he was going to risk him getting it again.

Connor looked over at Jesse, her body still propped up on her knees. She was looking at her hands, occasionally pressing against the wound like she might somehow be able to stop the bleeding. Connor must've made a noise, some kind of response to seeing her like that, because Markus said something to North before heading over to Jesse.

He knew before he even saw Markus's face that there was no hope. Markus was asking Jesse questions and she shook her head, her blonde hair falling into her face. He could tell even without seeing her face that she was crying. She'd been his friend, hell, she'd been his _best_ friend for the last few months, it felt wrong to lay here while she was crying.

North's hands held him in place, preventing him from sitting up any further much less from going over to her. She held his hand and connected to him, her connection whispered encouragement that everything was going to be okay.

He pulled his attention away from Jesse to look back at Hank, who was staring at him. He looked...devastated was the best way Connor could describe it. His expression went from horror to a blank slate back to horror in all of five seconds.

"Connor!" Hank shouted. Connor still couldn't hear him, but he could see his lips move, know that that was exactly what he was saying. The man ran over and slid to his knees, almost knocking North over in his haste to get down on his level.

"Hey, hey, hey," Hank repeated. His hand came up, brushing his curl back from his face. His thumb swept across his forehead, like Connor was just a little kid with a fever and Hank could make it better with a little medicine and attention. "Come on, kid, you're fine. You're gonna be okay."

Connor wondered if Hank knew. Surely he did. It must have been obvious to anyone looking at him. Unless Simon showed up soon, and with a lot of thirium, it was highly unlikely that he'd make it.

Connor slowly blinked, looking away from Hank to stare up at the sky. He couldn't look at the older man, couldn't watch him and see what this was doing to him. He'd just got Connor back, he couldn't lose him in some dirty alley because of some dirty FBI agent. 

The snow was still coming down heavily. The roads were probably icy now. Hank would need to be careful going home. He knew how much that stressed the human out, how any time there were real threats to the road he drove slower than he normally would because the thought of Cole hung in the back of his mind. Would he drive home slowly like he always did, or would he speed off this time, not caring since there was no one else to go home to aside from Sumo?

A distressed noise came from the back of his throat at the thought. He spit out some more thirium, hoping that would make all of the pressure in his throat and behind his eyes better, but it didn't.

This wasn't fair. Not that life ever was, as Hank always said, but Connor felt the need to shake someone, to scream about how unfair all of this was. He'd finally made it home! He had an answer as to why his memory was so shattered, and he was going to get it fixed. He had a family, friends, and a dog who would all miss him. How was it fair to take him away from all of that now?

The thing that was most unfair was that everyone would remember him, but not the him he'd been for the better part of a year now. Jesse had her version she knew, but everyone else in this alley had a different one, one he couldn't even fully remember.

Could you really die if you were already gone?

He allowed his eyes to slip closed, preparing to never open them again, when Hank's hand was taken away from his and lifted from his forehead. His eyes opened, trying to see what might possibly make the man he'd come to see as his father leave him in his last moments, and saw Jesse sitting above him.

She was leaning over him, her chest entirely blue with a hole large enough to show the bottom of her thirium pump. It must have been clipped before, which explained all the thirium but also how she was still alive. Her smile was soft and filled with sadness as she looked down at Connor.

 _"Hey, Connor,"_ she said through their connection. _"I'm sorry that all of this had to happen to you."_

He stared at the wound in her chest. _"I'm sorry, too._ "

She shook her head, her blonde hair falling over into her face. _"There's nothing for you to be sorry about."_ She fidgeted for a moment, her hand rubbing small circles against his. _"There is something that I wanted to do before I.... before I go, though."_

 _"What?"_ Connor asked, staring at her. The world was so cold now. He wondered if it was cold for her, too. 

_"It's very cold,"_ she said, despite the fact that he didn't remember asking. "But I wanted to give you back what I stole from you, if that was okay. She paused. _"You could be completely Connor again."_

He looked at her, looking for any sign that this might be a trick or a trap. It would be a cruel thing to do to someone who was... who was shutting down, but then again, he was just thinking about how life was cruel. Maybe this was the final blow.

 _"I would love to be Connor again,"_ he said. _"But I don't want to forget you. None of you."_

Tears fell from her eyes. _"I'm glad you don't want to forget us. If there had to be anyone left to remember us, I'm glad that it's you."_ She looked away from Connor, down towards their hands that were joined together. _"This is going to hurt, and I'm sorry for that."_ She smiled. _"But that's the last thing I'll be sorry for."_

She leaned forward, placing a kiss on his hair and then there was blinding, searing pain flowing through his body.

He'd thought it'd been bad when it was cold, but he'd been wrong. He would take the freezing, terrifying cold over this any day. There was no way he was going to live through this, there was no way _anyone_ could live through this.

But there, under all of the pain, were his memories. Slowly, but surely they came to the surface. Hank eating at Chicken Feed, bitching about some sports game that Connor was trying to ignore. Alice telling him all about the new school that was opening for android children and how she hoped Kara would let her go. Markus telling him that he hoped he could one day marry North, once they'd fully won their rights.

There were a million more of them, each one more beautiful than the last. Even the bad ones. Gavin punching him in the stomach and trying to kill him at the station, he and Markus staring off on the ship that had been Jericho. Saving Emma Philips from the android Daniel but also falling from the roof. Hank pulling his gun on him and asking him about "android heaven."

Just as quickly as they started, they stopped. Jesse's hands fell away from his, her body still sitting upright despite the fact that it was obvious she was no longer there. He could feel each one of the bullet wounds he'd received in the last couple of hours, could feel the pain of them as he tried to regain some sense of self control.

When he opened his eyes Hank was hovering over him, water running in rivers down his cheeks. He didn't even bother to wipe them away as he looked down at Connor, his hand coming back to his forehead before running through his hair. The sensation was nice, compared to everything else his body was feeling.

He couldn't help the slightly bitter laugh that came from his mouth, the thirium that had pooled in his mouth coming out in splashes and bubbles. The people surrounding him were clearly "shh-ing" him, urging him to be quiet, but he couldn't help it. He'd never been very good at doing what he was told, and now he had recollection of every time he'd done the opposite as evidence.

"Hank," he weakly said. While he couldn't hear his own voice, he could tell Hank had if his reaction was anything to go by. "I think I'm about to answer your question from the bridge."

Hank's face creased, confusion evident on his face. "I'll find some way to let you know if there's an android heaven."

Panic and sorrow in equal parts took over Hank's expression as he leaned forward, begging Connor to stay with them. But Connor was so tired and cold and in so much pain that he decided to let it all go.

He could die happy now. He could die a whole being.

XXXX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warned y'all over on my tumblr that this was going to be a bit of a longer one. There's one more chapter planned after this one, so stick around to figure out how this all ends! I hope you guys "enjoyed" it!


	34. Chapter 34

_Six Months Later_

The sand was surprisingly soft beneath his feet. He knew that a lot of people hated the feeling of sand, that it felt abrasive and that it tended to get everywhere without even trying.

But he liked it. He didn't often go barefoot, but this was something special.

The LED in his hand was dim. It was never going to turn on again. The android that it had belonged to was already gone, cremated at one of the newer android funeral homes. There was a special marker in the church Jericho had restored after the revolution that marked the android's passing, but it didn't matter. He doubted that he would ever visit it. He knew that that was not where the android's soul resided.

He stepped forward, allowing the water to lap at his toes. It was cold, still a bit too early in the year to swim, but warm enough that most people would enjoy taking a stroll along the edge of the water and getting their feet a bit wet. It was a whole new experience for him, and he wished that he could get the full experience of it today, but he figured he would wait. He had his whole life to experience that.

He leaned back, allowing the sun to rest on his face. It was warm, the faint smell of freshly mowed grass blowing in on the breeze. There was something so wholesome about that, something so normal and nice about that that instantly made him glad he'd chosen this place to leave the LED.

"Connor?" Hank asked from behind him. 

Connor opened his eyes, turning around to look at the man who he'd come to think of as his father. He was standing a few paces away, his eyes anxious and full of worry as he watched Connor from the shore. Sumo was occasionally pulling at his leash, halfhearted attempts to reach Connor and the water. Connor was sure that the man was thinking about his mental health, wondering how he was doing after everything that had happened. He'd been doing at a lot lately, checking in with him constantly, his eyes never straying far from the LED on the side of his head as if it were a perfect magic mood ring that could tell him all his thoughts.

"I'm fine," he said. It was true. He was fine. Or at least, he _would_ be fine. And that was enough for him. "I just wanted to make sure this would be a good place for her."

Hank nodded, seeming to accept that as an answer. "You know, picking a spot for Cole was hard, too," he said. "I'd never really thought about burying my son, not at his age, so when it came down to it and I had to pick a burial plot for him I almost lost it." 

Connor thought about how hard that must have been for him. This had been hard enough, he couldn't imagine how it would've been if he'd lost his child. Looking at Hank now, and seeing all the ways he had improved himself since Connor had joined up with him, he could only hope that Hank would never have to experience that again.

"We can come back, if you want," Hank said. "Or we can try somewhere else if this isn't good enough." He looked at the LED in Connor's hand. "It's okay to not be ready to say good bye."

Connor knew his words were coming from a good place, but he knew that he had to do this today. If he didn't, he might not ever do it, instead he'd wear her LED around his neck like some sort of permanent reminder of his failures to his friends like he'd done for the last six months.

"I think this is a good place," he said. "What do you think?"

Hank exhaled, the force of his breath blowing his hair up into his face. "I think it's perfect. There's sun, water, a gorgeous view. And when it warms up you can come back here and visit her again when you go swimming," he said. "Seems like as good of place as any to me."

Connor nodded. He turned back to look out at the water and reared his arm back, saying a silent, final goodbye to Jesse, before letting the LED soar through the air. It landed with a _plop_ and sank below the surface.

Hank approached him, his hand coming up to rest on his shoulder. "I'm proud of ya, son. I just wanted you to know that."

Connor grabbed a hold of his hand and nodded. It felt good to hear him say that.

"Gavin messaged me earlier," Connor said, wondering if he should even bring up this topic here. 

"What the hell is Gavin messaging you for?" Hank asked. He gestured over to one of the picnic tables not too far off from the water for them to sit down at. Sumo whined as he was led away from the water, although he eventually stopped once he realized he'd be able to rest his head on Connor's knee. "Since when are you two so buddy-buddy?"

Connor's face scrunched up slightly. "We're not. He was just letting me know that Agent Perkins was let go from his position due to his 'bigoted' nature." He patted the dog's head, taking care to scratch behind his ears just the way he knew he liked. "All of his cases, particularly the ones involving androids are under review. Markus's team is making sure of that."

"Good," Hank said. His hands tightened into fists. "I still can't believe that bastard shot you. I swear on everything if I ever see him again..."

Connor nodded, knowing the feeling. He could still remember the shock at seeing the thirium on Jesse and the pain of everything that followed. If Simon hadn't shown up when he did, along with the back up Gavin had called in, Connor probably wouldn't have made it. It had been so close that he'd apparently gone into temporary shutdown, although he couldn't remember anything from that. The parts they had had to replace in him had had to be... scavenged, for lack of a better word from other military grade androids, as RK800 model parts were still unavailable at the average parts store. He tried not to think about that too hard, about how three of the androids who had died that night had been his friends and had been part of the "upgraded" androids and it was possible that their parts had been used. He didn't know, he never asked, and Simon, as if sensing how troubling that might be, had never said.

The first thing he could remember after waking up was seeing Hank's excited and anxious face in front of him. The man had looked rough, his beard much longer and far more scraggly than Connor had ever seen it before. After that it had been a whirl-wind of information thrown at him and tests run on him. What did he last remember? Did he remember Simon showing up? Did he really get his memories back from Jesse? Was he in any pain? Could he do all of his regular functions again, or were they still blocked? 

It seemed he did have all of his memories back, as well as all of his functions. It had taken him some time to readjust to all of the memories he now had, and he still occasionally had a moment where he'd confuse something he'd done as Connor with something he'd done as _Cole_ , but even those instances were reoccurring less.

Then came the visitors to his hospital room. Hank had been there everyday, of course. Simon was frequent due to the fact that he was the main one who knew about his model and thus had plenty of medical information about him on file. Kara, Luther, and Alice had stopped by a few times, with Alice bringing him a different stuffed animal every time. By the time he was ready to leave, he had already formed half of a zoo on the window sill. Even Gavin was a frequent visitor, although Connor was slightly confused by his visits. He didn't say much and usually left pretty quickly, but he did stop in.

Markus and North stopped in almost as often as Hank, although they both had their hands full at the moment. A lot of androids had come to them for help after the raid and most of them had needed some sort of legal aid after everything with Travis was said and done. Most of it was easy for them to cover up or smooth over, while some of them who were closer to Travis were having to work out deals with the police in exchange for information. Even with Travis gone he was still causing problems.

The last six months had been a weird combination of busy and slow for all of them. Jericho was obviously busy with it's new arrivals, Gavin had taken on Connor and Hank's cases for the moment, with Connor occasionally partnering up with him when Fowler permitted. Hank had had a lot of time off, due to the fact that he'd fought and fired on an FBI agent. He'd made the most of his time, however, by visiting Connor in the hospital, and even converting the garage to a bedroom for Connor so he'd have his own space once he was released. It was still pretty sparse, but Hank was making sure to fill it with a different item every single time they went somewhere. Connor was sure he'd have a desk or a night stand by the time they made it home today, but he was in no rush to go anywhere just yet. It was nice to just sit and talk with Hank, no pressing matters to interrupt them.

"There's something I need to tell you, but I'm not really supposed to," Connor said. 

Hank tensed, immediately assuming the worst. "What? What is it?"

Connor tried to look serious, to make the news seem like something grim or bad, but he couldn't. He broke into a grin fairly quickly, his words coming out in a rush. "Markus and North are getting married."

Hank's eyes widened. "What! Really?" he asked. "When? And how the hell do you know?"

Connor shrugged. "Markus told me. I don't think they've really planned a date yet. And you can't tell anyone because it's supposed to be a secret."

"A secret, huh? Then why the fuck do you know?"

He tried to play it off, but he was too excited to be believable. "Because Markus asked me to be his best man."

Hank reached over and punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Hey! That's great news! Being the best man is a lot of responsibility, you know. You think you're ready for that?"

"I owe them a lot. I think I'm ready for this," he said.

Hank smiled at that. Connor looked away, looking out at the water. When they'd arrived it had been nothing but blue skies. Now, it was getting later, the sky lighting up orange with the sunset. It reminded him of the picture he still kept on his bedside table, most of the people in it nothing more than a memory now.

"It's good to have you back, Con," Hank said, patting his shoulder.

Connor smiled, letting the setting sun warm him. "It's good to be back, Hank."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And.... that's it! That's a wrap on Losing Your Memory Now. It's so hard to believe that it's finally over. I hope everyone who has read it has enjoyed it! I know that I enjoyed writing it immensely. For everyone that has commented or sent me PM over on tumblr, thank you so much for your encouragement! There's been a lot that has happened since I started this story, and you guys are definitely the reason why I finished it. And to everyone who has bookmarked it, given it kudos, or recommended it to a friend, thank you as well! You guys are all lovely people, and I will certainly miss seeing your names pop up in my feed now.
> 
> Also, for anyone interested, I do have a playlist I listened to while writing this. 1) Gasoline (cover)- American Avenue 2) Natural- Imagine Dragons 3) Face My Fears- Hikaru Utada 4) Losing Your Memory- Ryan Star 5) Blood// Water- grandson 6) Stay Alive- Hidden Citizens 7) Paralyzed- NF
> 
> Thank you again to everyone. I hope you liked the final chapter of Losing Your Memory Now.


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